Once Human, Now a Parasite 155 Chapter 152 : When Blood Flows

Although I consider him as a friend, I'll not help him rule the world or something like that, his matters are none of my business. I can give you an army too but I'll not personally help achieve your goals, I'll just provide means for you and do my end of the deal if you accept my offer, that is."

Still frozen mid-air, Taliya glared at Arthur but chose to remain silent. As for the Demon Lord, she stared at Arthur but it was apparent she was absent-minded.

"We do not want an army."

Whilst trying to keep a straight face and a deadpan expression, Mikayla calmly replied to his offer.

It was a bit regrettable, Arthur did not speak anymore, he retrieved his invisibly threads and unbound Taliya then he resumed walking out of the room.

"I still haven't finished talking."

The Demon Lord really didn't want to let go of Arthur just like that. He was willing to help them for Taliya but she just couldn't be selfish as to sacrifice her big sister for her daughter. She had a small hope that maybe, just maybe she would be able to persuade him to help them get her back.

'That's it!'

"If--If you help us get our daughter back, I'll pass the Demon Lord title to you."

It took her a lot of conviction to say that but for Mikayla, and even her husband, their daughter was more important than this position. Honestly, since she became a Demon Lord, her life became messier and more problematic with the council trying to find a hole and gain the title but she persisted, however, none of that matters if her family was divided like this.

Arthur finally disappeared from their view after he left one last sentence to reply to her.

"Demon Lord title? Is that how much your daughter is worth to you?... you can find me at the usual place..... I'm sure you know it."

Three people were left inside the room, remaining silent, each having their own thoughts and struggling to come up with a good solution yet even after a couple of minutes, no one of them uttered a single word, they just stood there, motionless and silent.

...

Arthur had long since guessed that the Demon Lord sent someone to get him because he invaded the city and got rid of the black mage. That mage must have been causing trouble for them and since he disappeared so suddenly, they must've been suspicious or thought something bad was going to happen.

He didn't know how they tracked him but there is a chance that they tracked Robin and Rey he just happened to be with them but it's not like it matters right now, they can't threaten him or hurt him.

With nothing to do and no one to talk to, Arthur went back where his Death Golem was. His goal, for now, is to wait for that hideous looking creature to teleport back to the same location, if he could kill him instantly and take his treasure then there may be a chance to travel to another world and find a way to travel to Earth or find a master of Spatial Laws to possess. The chance may be slim but it still existed and that is more than enough to push Arthur to try it.

It's better than staying on Astria and loiter around. Knowing that Astria is a desolate world, it'll be quite hard to get out of it easily like the Underworld for example.

It's a world that is most likely in the Universe belonging to the System so the requirement to enter it is even more difficult which makes the plan to wait for a Space Master to come here is impossible to achieve.

Arthur sat at a reclusive corner in dark cavy room which was the same place the black mage was performing his weird ritual in. The Death Golem was guarding the exact place the ugly creature teleported from and the second anything out of place happens, Arthur would act immediately.

His sense was spread all the way to the surface and everything was ready, all he had to do was wait. With nothing else to do, Arthur opened his Status Window to check the changes as he gained quite an amount after passing the beginner phase.

TITLE : MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK HOLDER

Level: ???

Class: Dark ARK Parasite

Realm: Immortal 9th Grade

Strength: 135.9M

Intelligence:143.7M

Agility: 112.9M

Wisdom:127.8M

Vitality:104.4M

Dexterity:102.1M

-Health:115M-Health Regen:72894/s

Nether Energy:110M / Nether Energy Regen:85800/s

Mana:185M / Mana Regen:124514/s

Stamina: Infinite /Stamina Regen: ???

Creation : 125

Attack:218M

Defense:156.4M

Magic defense : 39.7M

Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / Ancient Threads / Sixth sense / ARK(Activated)

Mental Power : 1999

Elemental Resistances:

Fire: 100%

Darkness: 100%

Wind: 35%

Water: 75%

Earth: 75%

Light/holy: 5%

Shadow: 30%

Lightning: 100%

Ice: 30%

His stats have definitely risen by a huge margin and he is just 1 Mental Power away from breaking through, however, he won't be able to break through with just possessing, he needs to cultivate just a bit of Nether Energy and break that barrier.

Moreover, he still didn't reach the limits of his stats so he wasn't planning on breaking through the Divine Realm until he reaches that limit.

He already told Robin to collect all kinds of corpses for him and what made him happier is that she had an enormous stack of corpses in her storage rings, it's just that she forgot them in the Headquarters so he just told her he'll come when he's free.

The most important matter right now it finding a way out of Astria, as for possessing the corpses, he could do it in just a few hours and it'll be done swiftly.

...

A few days passed with nothing happening. Arthur sat there, silently waiting for the target to appear but it didn't seem the monster will appear anytime soon. Plus, his Dark Anguish Technique can't be channeled with Mana, adding the fact that there is literally no Nether Energy in this region, Arthur could only give up on cultivating a bit.

Seeing that waiting here will lead to nowhere and he's simply wasting precious time, Arthur used all his Mental Power to summon the strongest Death Knight he could spawn with his current strength.

He had to wait for his Mental Power to recover for a whole day before consuming it on a Warlock. The two Death Knights were at the middle stages of the Heavenly Realm and one of them was a Warlock.

With his Death Golem and two strong summons, Arthur was sure that if that hideous looking creature appeared, these three would be able to apprehend it immediately and retrieve that item from it before it could escape or teleport away.

Arthur was going to enter the ARK so he made all of this preparation. His lame copy said that no time will pass if he entered the ARK but he couldn't believe what he said. It may be the truth but he would rather plan things ahead and take some precautions rather than believe someone he just met.

"Dra'lka"

Just as he said that word, Arthur found himself standing in the endless white space yet again. His strength wasn't reduced and he could use the Dark Magic and anything else. He just entered the ARK but he honestly didn't know what to do exactly.

*Welcome to the ARK*

*Please choose what do you want to do*

*List:

Phase Training.

Rest.

Materialize.

Fuse.*

'So basically, I can't-do nothing but rest?'

Previously, the robotic voice, which apparently was the one controlling the ARK, told him that he couldn't undertake the next Phases until he breaks through to the Divine Realm. It was frustrating, especially when his power is equal if not stronger than normal Gods but his Realm is limiting him.

'What does the Rest do?"

*As the name suggests, the user 'Arthur' will be put in 'Rest Mode', increasing the Recovery rate by 200% and makes the time flow slower than outside.*

"Flow slower?"

*Yes. if the user 'Arthur' is in 'Phase Mode' then no matter how much time passes inside the ARK, no seconds will pass in Reality. As for 'Rest Mode', a Day in the outside is a month inside the ARK. The user 'Arthur' only has 10 years of rest currently. It will only increase if the user 'Arthur' passes other Phases in the 'Phase Mode'.*

'So that bastard was lying after all! He didn't explain it like this... tch! I knew it.'

His condition didn't require any recovery and he can do nothing in here besides walk in this endless space or maybe test his skills but Arthur wasn't in the mood for that. After pondering for a couple of seconds, Arthur left the ARK.

As his vision was back to the dark cave, he was momentarily startled as Taliya was standing a dozen of meters in front of him. She was just silently staring at him through the darkness.

Since he was not in 'Rest Mode' the couple of minutes he passed inside the ARK also passed in reality. Even if he stayed longer, with his Defense, there is no way he could be injured even if he just laid there without moving.

It'll even be hard for a Heavenly Realm to injure him, much less a Demon Lord or a low-leveled maid but sneak attacking Arthur was not the reason Taliya came here.

"If it isn't the head maid. What you brings you to my humble home?"

While folding his arms, Arthur leaned his back on the cold wall and stared back at Taliya.

The silver-haired maid kept a straight face and seriously said

"I'll follow you but on one condition."

Hearing something that caught his attention, Arthur smirked as he could more or less guess what she's going to say

"Please pray tell then, I'm all ears."

"I'll follow you if you get back Alina, the daughter of the Demon Lord. She must be safe and I'll not accept just a corpse."

To be honest, Arthur didn't think this 'Alina' would be alive after all these years. Humans despise Demons and knowing their attitude, she must have been tortured, raped or even worse by them, the probability of her being safe is rather unlikely.

Even if, supposedly, she's still safe, then what about her mental health? There are countless ways to break someone and it is harder to recover from a mental breakdown than a physical injury.

"Those are harsh conditions you.... however, I accept."

A sigh, that could be barely heard, escaped from Taliya's mouth when she heard his answer. She didn't know how strong he was but there may be a chance and if it means giving herself up then so be it!

Her focused attention was distracted when she heard a noise to the left, she thought it was an enemy but was dumbstruck when she saw an enormous scary looking golem and two creatures next to it.

She recognized the knight but the Warlock had a more creepy and ominous aura around it, its staff had a dark crystal that emitted a black fog and it wore a robe made from ancient bones and black tattered leather.

Arthur slowly got up and talked as he patted the dust off his clothes

"So let's make this clear. I bring the girl back, safe and sound of course, and you'll follow me?"

Hearing his voice, Taliya snapped off her daze, she shifted her eyes from the golem back to Arthur and nodded her head seriously.

"That is right."

Only Taliya came to talk him which made Arthur a bit confused. It was the Demon Lord's daughter and not Taliya's, so why is she the one coming to speak to him?

There is only one explanation, it's that the Demon Lord didn't know about Taliya coming here. Arthur expected that they will come looking for him sooner or later but he didn't expect it to be that way.

His assumptions are not yet confirmed but he is positive that it's the case. Arthur raised his hand and pointed at the where the Death Golem and started injecting an astronomical amount of Mana to create a cage.

"Alright then, I'll depart whenever you want me to. But let me tell you one thing, I do not like being lied to, nor do I like being betrayed or people who break their promises. Should you not follow your end of the deal when I return the girl then.... let's just say you'll regret it."

"Don't treat me like a Human. Demons always keep their promises, we're not like those filthy tricky humans."

Arthur just shrugged his shoulders and kept creating the cage of thorny vines around the Death Golem. Vines as thick as a tree trunk twirled and wrapped around themselves as they made an unbreakable cage around the Death Golem, imprisoning it and creating some sort of a prison around that area.

Arthur didn't want anything getting in or out of this small area, should someone even try to cut the vines, it will automatically attack it and kill it at all costs.

"So, when do we depart?"

With a serious look and a deadpan expression, she replied

"We depart right now."

She didn't even tell him to go prepare himself, Taliya was too direct as she demanded they depart immediately which was a bit rude of her part since he's going to retrieve the daughter of her sister and someone very close to her.

Taliya wanted to go straight ahead because her little sister, who is also the Demon Lord, does not know what she is currently doing and will probably oppose her decision which is something she could not tolerate as every day that passes, Alina would suffer more, if she is alive that is.

"Then off we go."

Arthur waved his hand, taking out the Dark Cloud and immediately jumping on it and sitting comfortably on it then he looked at Taliya, clearly waiting for her to jump on the ominous dark nebula he was sitting on.

Of course, the head maid recognized the cloud and was not so optimistic about riding it for various reasons.

"You wanted to depart now so hop on. We'll never arrive if I wait for you or travel with your slow speed."

Feeling a bit regretful, Taliya sighed and leaped on the cloud whilst trying to keep as much distance from Arthur as possible but it wasn't that easy. The cloud was wide but not to the point of keeping the distance she wished for, all she could do was just stand at the edges of the cloud and cautiously stare at Arthur.

The other party could feel the intense glare of Taliya, he shook his head and said

"I don't think we'll get along if you keep acting like that, I suggest you start practicing your role rather than being cautious, I'm not going to eat you or hurt you. Remember that I'm helping you and I'm certainly not the enemy."

Albeit hearing what he just said, the silver-haired maid kept being cautious and the intense stare never went away so all Arthur could do was just sigh and try his best to ignore her, for now at least.

As usual, a dark barrier was created around the Dark Cloud, for safety purposes, and for Taliya, since he wasn't going to hold back in terms of speed, the wind resistance would surely crush her and push her out of the cloud so the barrier is there to nullify that.

Not even a minute after they rode the cloud, they were already out of the cave and even out of the city which was something Taliya's brain couldn't process.

The city wasn't outrageously big but it still was one of the main cities and the presence of the castle belonging to the Demon Lord proves hit, however, the cloud's speed was so fast that Taliya could barely see what's blurring all around her, it was too mind-numbing to witness.

"You see the difference now? If I wanted to hurt you then you would not even be able to retaliate so why not relax?"

With his arms folded and a plant twirling around his body, Arthur grinned as he noticed Taliya's astounded expression, it was a rare occasion, since she always keeps that deadpan face.

The trip was not going to take long but it won't be just a few seconds either. Seeing that Taliya was not the talkative type and there is a lot of time to spare, Arthur tried practicing with the Plant Magic and wanted to try to create a useful plant that may help him against Divine beings and above. There were countless uses of such Magic and he wanted to find a helpful one.

...

A couple of hours later, the cloud entered the perimeter of the Human Continent. Arthur fiddled with the Plant Magic since the trip began and Taliya, still goggle-eyed, stared at the blurring surroundings again and again whilst throwing a couple of curious and astonished glances at Arthur every now and then.

With a speed like this, her hopes of retrieving Aline rose by a huge margin, the lingering regret had long since disappeared and what replaced it was a boundless hope.

She had a close relationship with Alina and even considered her as her own daughter, so the thought of saving her and having her back is something she had long since yearned for.

No matter how strong she was, she couldn't abandon her duties and forsake her status to just infiltrate the Human Empire and get Alina back, she just didn't have enough strength to achieve such a difficult feat which is why, during all these years, all she did was hope Alina is safe till the day she becomes powerful enough to go there and forcefully get her back, however, that day was never close and no matter how strong she became, she was not near enough of obtaining the required strength.

Fortunately, Arthur wouldn't have to resort to violence if the Emperor did really kidnap Alina. He was sure that the Emperor would be kind enough to hand over the girl if she's alive, and if she had been killed a long ago, he really didn't know what to do but for now, he hoped that such an outcome won't happen.

One thing for sure, Taliya would certainly rage and try to murder the Emperor or do the same thing that was done to her family and try to kidnap the princess which is a dumb thing to do in the middle of all those guards. He would do his end of the deal but he wouldn't help her extract revenge, however, he wouldn't protect the princess either. If the Emperor really did torture Alina or worse, then he deserved whatever will happen to him.

"So, where do you think the Demon Princess is?"

Arthur won't waste time in searching every inch of the Human Continent, it would take a lot of time albeit his Godly speed so having a general location so search on would make things much easier.

"No matter how many spies we sent, we couldn't find any information about her location."

"Then we'll have to visit the Emperor after all."

Arthur planned to do that from the start but if she had a useful information, he wouldn't mind heading there first but it didn't appear to be the case so the Dark Cloud made its way toward the Capital of the Empire.

The Capital was more or less at the center of the Continent, with the Cloud's speed, they reached the flourishing city in just a short time. Obviously, the castle where the Emperor resides is not located inside the city so before reaching it, the cloud diverted to the East.

Noticing that they're almost there, Arthur looked at Taliya, who finally sat up on the cloud, and warned her one last time.

"Do not forget that I am the one retrieving the girl, your job is only to spectate and confirm the girl's identity if we find her. If you act then I'll not help you and you'll just be killing yourself."

All he got was a slow nod from Taliya, she didn't seem to be listening to him as all her attention was focused on the enormous mansion just ahead. The cloud was a bit high so she was looking down from above.

Arthur also glanced at the mansion and was a bit surprised when he saw so many guards. There were at least six times the usual number of guards. It may have been a long time since he came, however, the change was too sudden, or so he thought.

Even the average Level of the guards has become above 120. Seeing such strong guards, suspicions and guesses started rampaging inside Arthur's mind.

As the Cloud was slowly descending, Arthur spread his Sense and covered the whole mansion and its surroundings. He could feel some strong individuals but they were not particularly threatening, not to him at least.

His destination was the Emperor himself, it's better to head to him immediately rather than question each and every guard. A frown appeared on Arthur's face as he sensed the Emperor, his frown deepened when his Sense spread even further.

He said nothing but it was sure that something was amiss. Taliya, who had a bit of confidence after seeing Arthur's strange cloud, became anxious when she noticed his frown. She decided to remain silent but her thoughts were in total turmoil.

"There isn't anyone with the description you gave me, however... there is a teleportation circle deep underground."

With his Sense, it was easy to figure out all of that but Arthur was still going to talk with the Emperor to ascertain a few things. Alina didn't seem to be here or else he would have sensed her.

"Are you sure she's not here? We haven't even entered the mansion...."

Taliya didn't fully believe him as she didn't personally search the mansion. She wasn't the kind of person to give up this easily, especially when it's about a member of her family. Albeit how she looks on the outside, she's a very caring person.

"No need to give me that face, we'll ask the Emperor before concluding false assumptions."

Arthur was at the Peak of the Immortal Realm and with the use of a bit of Nether Energy, it's easy to cover his and Taliya's aura from the guards. It's a simple thing when the difference in strength is outrageously big.

The Dark Cloud slowly navigated through the guards like a fish in the water, even after passing a couple of meters away from the guards, no one of them seemed to hear or notice anything, it's as if they didn't exist in the same dimension.

'As I thought, it's definitely not the same. Better finish it before it gets worse.'

At last, Arthur got up from the cloud and jumped on the ground. His face grim and cold as he stared at the dumbfounded guards who turned their heads towards him, obviously surprised by the sudden appearance of this intruder, moreover, he appeared in the middle of them without them noticing him.

But by far, the one who was the most confused and startled was Taliya, she never thought he'll reveal himself so casually and for no apparent reason. She couldn't find a good reason to do that. Whilst still standing on the cloud, Taliya cautiously looked around as she raised her two short blades.

With his two cold eyes staring at the closest guards, Arthur spoke with a domineering voice as his two pupils turned gray and pulsated every second.

"What is the meaning of this? The dead should not be walking around so blatantly."

Revived Soldier(Race: Human): Lv142.

Revived Soldier(Race: Human): Lv133

Revived Soldier(Race: Human): Lv124

Revived Soldier(Race: Human): Lv138

Every man, albeit having the appearance of the living, had the same title when he was appraised by Arthur. It was a strange thing that Arthur was confused about when his Sense probed them. He felt their strength but he couldn't appraise them if can't see them so when the results were shown in front of him, he was a bit surprised.

All he had to do was piece this and that together, and that allowed him to easily guess why the Emperor was like that and everyone was this strong, even simple maids and butlers were strong which is not something commonly seen.

"What are you talking abo-"

Before Taliya could finish, she was interrupted by the guards, who unsheathed their weapons and attacked Arthur immediately. It was not an uncommon thing as he was an intruder but their lifeless expressions and almost robotic movements were more strange.

"It's always good to have a meal served to you for FREE!"

Arthur raised his hands and lowered them with a fast speed, each of his fingers had countless threads which followed his movements and cut everything in its way, including the lifeless rotten corpses coming straight at him.

What followed was a literal bloodbath, or it's more precise to call it a blood river. The red liquid was all over the place, everywhere you stepped, it's either a dismembered limb, head or a small pool of fresh blood. It was just one move from Arthur yet all the hundreds of guards in that area were killed almost instantaneously with no one surviving.

No grown or wails were heard, everyone but Taliya was alive, who was dumbstruck and wide-eyed by the gory and bloody sight in front of her. Even with a Level such as hers, she can't do that, at most, she would kill a few dozens then attempt to escape due to the disadvantage in numbers.

She was not afraid, nor was she petrified, she was surprised by this turn of events, she was also somewhat happy. She loathed humans, was disgusted by them, what else would be happier than seeing them being massacred like this. Plus, they belong to the Emperor, the true enemy of Demons.

If she had the power, she would make them suffer even more and kill them in a crueler way. Unfortunately, or maybe, fortunately, she didn't have that kind of power.

"Enjoying the show so far?"

Arthur glanced at Taliya, who just stared back at him with no response whatsoever, it was apparent she was shocked but also a bit happy. If he has this much power then getting back Alina is just a matter of time. Her doubts and suspicions disappeared in a matter of seconds.

Perhaps all he had to do from the start is just show her a few his destructive skills and it would have been enough but he was not someone who liked bragging that much and her believing in him was not something he was concerned about, sooner or later, this was bound to happen.

Arthur turned around and started walking toward the entrance of the mansion. He could sense hundreds of guards approaching his locations but he was still unfazed by that. There was also a specific location inside the mansion which has a dense amount of guards and a couple of strong individuals. That was most likely was the 'Emperor' resided.

With a cold smile and two pulsating gray pupils, Arthur burned the tall main door and entered the spacious hall.

---

Floods of lifeless soldiers charged at Arthur and Taliya just as they entered the mansion but albeit their outrageous numbers, they were simply walking to their imminent death.

It was as if the area around Arthur and the maid was Death's door, anyone who got close to them would be cut to pieces by invisible threads, they were so sharp the physically enhanced bodies of these walking dead were cut through so easily with no resistance whatsoever.

"These Humans are not normal...."

As she stared at their lifeless looks, their complete oblivious expression of losing a limb or experiencing agonizing pain, Taliya came to a conclusion but it was a bit too late from her part.

"Took you a while to figure it out, huh. Yes, these are not humans, they are walking abominations."

If Necromancy was bringing the dead from another world, then the magic used on these soldiers are much crueler and disgusting. Instead of summoning the dead from another world, this magic brings back the dead corpses to life in a much stronger state than when it was alive. It sounds like a good thing to have but the souls of these corpses would stick with the corpse until it really dies, it may be today just like it may be after a century.

They don't age, they don't react to pain neither do they disobey the master, the one who revived them. In a sense, the skeletons used by Arthur are a bit smarter since his stats are so high but in terms of strength, they are weaker than these abominations, but that is only the case if he doesn't use his Mental Power.

Although the sight was something Taliya would love to continue seeing, she couldn't help but speak up and try to stop the slaughter.

"L-leave someone alive, we can question him about Alina's whereabouts."

Turning a deaf ear to her, Arthur waved his hand and spread his web of threads in all the surroundings, killing those who were coming to attack and those who were about to charge again despite losing a limb or a weapon.

With his two eyes pulsating with a gray light and a cold aura around him, Arthur looked at the flowing blood and lifeless look of the corpses and said

"Dead men tell no tales. Those are but a shell without a mind. Souls are traped, tortured and in pain without a chance of retaliation. It's not something that can be easily undone. You may not feel anything when you see them but for me, at least I can release these poor souls from this endless hell *sigh*"

Memories that he didn't want to remember resurfaced inside his head. Thoughts he didn't wish to think about, feelings he had long since abandoned, a darkness that had been buried for ages. It didn't completely resurface but he could feel it crawling back to the surface, trying to turn him insane, thirsting for vengeance, hatred for all things, rage towards who wronged him.

As he finished his sentence, Arthur vanished from Taliya's view, all that was left was dispersing black flames. Before he teleported away, Arthur left a Death Knight near her in case something happens but what was about to happen is better not seen by anyone, even if she could handle witnessing a massacre, what's about to come is not a pleasant memory to have.

All it took him was four teleports to appear in the big main hall of the mansion, where the throne usually. In the past, when he barged in without an invitation, this hall had no soldiers or anything of the sort, however, right now, there were at the very least a thousand soldiers.

All of them without exception were revived ones, and at the throne in the end of the hall, there sat the Emperor and the Queen. Arthur could only sigh again as he looked at the familiar face of the Emperor yet the appraisal showed a different name, a different Race.

'Albeit it was only a short period, I considered you like a friend. All I could say is... I'm sorry for what about to do...'

The Emperor didn't even talk, neither did the Queen or any other soldier. Arthur also saw two people standing behind the Emperor, they were cloaked in some kind of Stealth skill but due to the difference in strength, he was able to see them albeit the use of their skill.

If he was going to ask someone, it better be one of those two hidden figures, the others are but walking corpses, only meant to obey the one and only master who certainly was not in this room.

'It was barely two years yet so much occurred.... inexplicable things, frustrating matters, and strange people. Where did they all come from.'

Arthur's eyes sharpened as he took out Makaze and looked at the crowd of lifeless corpses, they were all charging at him yet for him, it was all happening so slowly due to their slow speed and his high Agility and Dexterity.

*How can you forget? How can you just live your life happily? Do you think you deserve it?*

An angry yet sad voice rang in his ears, it sounded exactly like him but it was chilling, sad and above all, lonely.

*All must be killed! None can live! Kill! Kill them all, ARTHUR! KILL THEM!*

While clutching his head and dropping to his knees, Arthur tried to cast away the voice but he couldn't, no matter how much passives or skills were used, none were helpful. It was at this moment that the first enemy arrived upon him.

The soldier thrust his iron sword yet it was just the beginning, the second and third soldiers also attack from behind Arthur, aiming for his back and skull.

"Where!"

With a cold and loud voice, Arthur shouted this word as the sharp black katana vibrated and slashed the air with incredible speed. You could expect the soldiers around him to die but that was literally nothing compared to the damage that was done later.

The 360 degrees done by Arthur, which was not seen by any of the enemies, transformed into some kind of a black circle that slaughtered all the soldiers in the hall, at least all the ones which were at the same level of the circle.

The walls were cut by the circle and the ceiling began falling down, crushing the already dead corpses along with the Emperor, the elite guards near him and Arthur, who was looking at the ground with a confused expression.

Cloud dust and loud noises caused by the falling boulders and pillars was heard from afar, even Taliya who was far from the Hall felt the earth shake due to the explosion and its aftermath.

As the surroundings were clearing from the dust, the two guards, who were alerted by that attack, managed to react in time as they appeared in front of the Emperor, each holding a long sword.

They could feel the chilling bloodlust being emanated from Arthur, who was the only figure alive after the ceiling fell on the soldiers. He was looking up and still had that confused expression.

"Where.. Where!"

The two guards were just going to start evacuating when Arthur suddenly vanished from his position and appeared in front them. The guard on the left was a bit faster as he managed to react in time and swung his sword, trying to behead Arthur on the spot but a thorny vine had long since stabbed his chest, making a hole as big as his head and killing him on the spot.

As for the second guard, he wasn't able to dodge as Arthur's hand was stretched and grabbed his neck, lifting him off the ground and suffocating him, he could even hear his own bones being pressured and crushed. In just seconds, his face turned red.

The Emperor, the Queen and the elite guards, who were also lifeless corpses, were fast enough to circle around Arthur and attack with their strongest attack. They never uttered a single word and their Levels were much higher than the normal soldiers with the Emperor being the highest at a staggering 911.

"Scram!"

Arthur didn't even need to move his hand or body to send all of them away. Not even the Emperor survived as a dark red flame burned all of them into ashes except the second guard, who was still being held by Arthur.

His two hands were trying to push Arthur's stretched hand yet no matter how much force he put, he couldn't move a finger. Strength was leaving him and the bloodlust of Arthur was suffocating him.

"Where is she! Where is she! TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!"

Unknown to Arthur, in such a strange state, he couldn't think properly and let the guard breath and answer him normally, the thought of letting go of the guard never crossed his mind.

All the guard could do was tap Arthur's hand to try and reason with him. He was clearly indicating his surrender but it didn't seem to be working.

With two eyes resembling a bottomless foggy abyss, Arthur stared at the guard. The other felt himself in real hell as that stare was like the devil's stare, he felt that all his weaknesses were exposed, all his memories stolen and his soul devoured by these gray eyes.

Hearing no answer, Arthur crashed the guard's body on the wall behind him, crushing his bones and making blood flow endlessly from countless injuries he suffered just from that attack. Knowing the difference in strength between the two of them, it's quite normal for the weak party to suffer like this but it was but the beginning.

"WHERE IS SHE! TELL ME WHERE IS LUCY! TELL ME!"

Arthur kept crushing the guard on the wall until the supposedly sturdy wall of the hall was crushed into dust. All that was left was the guard who had a lifeless look.

It took Arthur a couple of minutes to realize that the guard he was still holding was already dead. He let go of the corpse which soundlessly fell on the ground.

With his Sense still spreading, he quickly found another target which was deep underground, where the teleportation circle was located.

'What the hell is that?'

A black shadow was running at full speed, his destination was the teleportation circle under the mansion. He has seen what happened in the garden and in the hall. Fortunately, he was smart enough to escape the second he sensed the aura around Arthur.

He was at the middle-stages of the Deity Realm, something that is practically invincible on Astria yet he was petrified just by Arthur's aura, that in itself proves how terrifying the enemy was.

He had seen quite a few powerful individuals on the West and East but they were not that threatening so he ignored them and stayed low while manipulating the Emperor just as his master ordered but now, change finally came and a dangerous enemy appeared out of nowhere.

A particular memory resurfaced in his mind as he thought of Arthur. It was the last words of the Emperor before he was killed and revived.

"Hahaha! You can kill me but when he comes, you better be prepared!"

It was unknown what method the Emperor used but both his son and daughter were teleported to an unknown location. No matter how Elias searched, he couldn't find a trace of them. He was afraid they would tell the truth about what happened, however, after two years of nothing happening, he dropped his guard and the alerting feeling slowly dissipated.

He was not afraid of the truth being divulged to the public, he was afraid of the punishment he would receive from his master if he ever disobeyed him or messed up the plan.

It didn't take Elias a lot of time to arrive at an empty room with only a few blue lights put in a specific position around a circle engraved on the ground.

Without wasting any second, he lifted both of his hands and started channeling his Mana to activate the teleportation and get out of here.

The process was going on with no problems so far, but what Elias feared ended up happening. First, it was a chill that made his body tremble uncontrollably, then it was a deadly stare that landed on his back and made him sweat.

Before he could execute any secret technique to escape from this room, countless threads wrapped around him, from his neck all the way to the tip of his toes. He was covered in so many threads that he looked like a spider's cocoon.

Elias didn't immediately give up, albeit feeling the thick killing intent covering him, he spat a purple acid that fell on the threads and quickly dissolved them. Out of reflex, he looked behind him but was astonished when he saw no one behind him, even the killing intent disappeared the moment he turned his head.

Trying to stop his hands from shaking, he lifted them again and started channeling the Mana again and poured all his reserve to start the teleportation faster so the enemy doesn't catch up.

A sigh of relief escape his mouth when a blue light covered him and the teleportation started at last. Seeing his whole body engulfed in this blue light, he felt so safe as no matter how powerful someone is, they can't stop this teleportation.

Taliya, who stayed with the Death Knight, slowly advanced inside the mansion but everywhere she looked, there were mountains of corpses and rivers of blood, this didn't look like a royal mansion anymore, not after the previous explosion and the damage done by Arthur.

It seems that the black circle created by Makaze did more damage than expected, the ceiling had long since fallen and walls were shattered to mere rubbles.

The stench of blood never left her nose as she wandered in the mansion, searching for a sign of Alina but after making two full tours of what was left of the mansion, she never found the girl. The Hall was no more and what replaced it was a huge area with endless amounts of corpses and boulders.

After searching for a bit more, she managed to find stairs leading underground, she was a bit hesitant but after glancing at the Death Knight which never left her side since earlier, she resolutely entered the dark underground with hopes of finding Alina.

Chapter end