Chapter 160
The testing with the Dark Magic was strange, at first it left Arthur confused but he the more he tested the more confused he felt . The test was quite simple, before successfully growing a plant, he would fuse a bit of Dark Magic into it and try to merge them and if that doesn’t work, he would try to fuse them together after the plant grew .
The latter is the method he used with the last few attributes as the first one rarely works, even in case of the Heavenly Arrow, he has to add the attribute after the core of arrow is created .
The simply grown plant wriggled on top of Arthur’s hand, seemingly happy to be born, it wasn’t completely sentient yet it was not unsentient too . When the most important part occurred and the Dark Magic slowly entered the plant’s small body, the wriggling became fiercer and surprisingly, it started emitting screeching noises that were not so pleasant to the ears .
A few seconds passed and the screeching finally stopped with the death of the plant . This process made Arthur furrow his brows and watch in confusion and surprise . To make sure he didn’t mess anything up, he tried doing it again but the result was exactly the same .
The third time he tried that, he possessed the plant he just created and just laid dormant there, without taking over the incredibly small body of the plant . He noticed that the Dark Magic that invaded the plant’s body was eating away its body and slowly but surely, trying to possess it but that only ended up in the plant yet again . It seemed that the more forceful the Dark Magic was in possessing the plant, the stronger the backlash which will automatically lead to the death of the invaded body .
Arthur didn’t know why the Dark Magic was not trying to merge but wanted to take over the body, maybe after so long, it started imitating the actions of its original master?
Some time was spent pondering about what just happened and then Arthur decided to do a few more tests . He created a dark red fireball the size of his fist . The fireball floated in front of him and burned with intense heat . It was just a small fireball yet the temperature of the room rose to an alarming degree .
A black fog came out of Arthur body and encircled the fireball, gradually merging with the ball of flames . Arthur couldn’t believe his eyes as he witnessed this . Such a thing would never have occurred in the past, no matter how many times he tried, normal fusion like Lucy did was impossible for him unless if it’s inside the Heavenly Arrow .
There was the case of the Eclipse Magic but that is something he obtained, as for right now, the fusion was happening smoothly and in normal cases, the Dark Magic would be just repelled just like pulling two magnets with the same sign close to each other .
A few seconds passed and the system notification rang in his ears .
’ting’
You have successfully fused [Ancient Fire] with [Dark Magic] .
You have created a new skill(Active): [Sensor Detonator]: A special fireball that chases its target and detonates, dealing huge destructive damage . Please note that the user can detonate it at will, no matter the distance . Please note that it will automatically detonate if the user is unconscious or dead .
Cost: 1,000 Mana (Please note that the more Mana is injected into the skill, the bigger and the stronger the Sensor Detonator will be . )
Cooldown: None .
For Successfully fusing two Attributes, you gain +500,000 Intelligence / +400,000 Wisdom .
The Dark Red flaming ball received huge changes . First, it was its size, it tripled in size and but the heat intensity dramatically decreased . There was also its appearance, two dark abyss-like eyes appeared on it and a grinning mouth was just under the eyes, it looked creepy and adding its massive size, it could by means be compared to a normal looking dark red fireball .
It seemed as if it was laughing but no sound was emitted by it, its color drifted a bit toward orange and only the top of its head had some red flames burning as for the rest, it looked like a big ball .
Although there were no flames burning on its body, with naked eyes, anyone will see that its insides are like raging red flames of hell .
’Just what exactly is Dark Magic . . . . ’
Arthur stretched his hands to touch the Sensor Detonator and in response to his movements, the strange-looking fireball floated under his hands and kept staring at him with its two eyes while still maintaining the motionless grin .
Its body surprisingly felt soft as if he was touching a teddy bear .
With but a thought, Arthur called back the Sensor Detonator and was left alone in the room . He let out a sigh and tried fusing the Dark Magic with the rest of the attributes but as he guessed, it didn’t work .
It must be that either because the flames were special that the fusing working or because his affinity with the ancient flames is stronger than the rest .
The meditation was resumed when a couple of extra tries were done but naught was discovered, however, the creation of such skill is not bad too . He didn’t try it yet but it’s bound to be strong, especially if he pours enough Mana, furthermore, it chases its target and detonates on contact or by his will, so it may be good to bait someone and with these damnable chains, obtaining more powerful magical abilities would only make things easier for him if a fight ever breaks out .
. . .
The darkness brought by the fallen night disappeared with the appearance of the sun rays and the blue sky . Arthur was in deep meditation, preparing himself and waiting for the hot Material to slowly cool down . He could have used Ice to fasten the process but doing it the old-fashioned way it better . If he wanted it, he could create one in an extremely short time but the more effort you put into forging a weapon, the better it’ll be when it’s done .
When the twenty-four hours mark passed, Arthur finally got up from the bed, making the chains emit the noisy crackling noise but unlike the usual reaction, Arthur was not annoyed . More than ten hours were spent meditating, he was in a serene and calm state, a calm temper and strong heart is needed to craft the best weapons .
The next step is Grinding, the blacksmith usually needs a grinder to work out the edges and the point of the desired weapon, this would also when any engraving could be added . This is not a completed version of the weapon as it is still soft but Arthur didn’t miss this opportunity, he took out a normal grinder and started meticulously grinding and when he was done, he didn’t forget to engrave the very symbols of his Sect on the huge axe .
When this step was perfectly finished, Arthur took out a quenching tank and heated the axe to a terrifyingly high degree and then put it in the tank . This reservoir looking tank is used to cool the heated axe and harden the metal or any material the weapon is made of .
This step shouldn’t take much, he waited for fifteen minutes before he took out the axe and inspected it closely while rotating it in the air using telekinesis and observing every inch of it .
Its color changed to brown and had some red spots randomly scattered on its wide body . The long hilt was still not made and will only be added to the overall axe when everything is done .
After this quick inspection came to the tempering phase, it is basically a repeated cycle of heating and quenching but a much lower temperature, this will help the weapon to be strong yet not brittle whilst also providing it with a certain amount of flexibility but still maintain the sharp edges .
The cycle was repeated 27 times, using a unique skill he got from one of the thousands of humanoid corpses he possessed .
[Heart of Fire: The 27th Tempering]: The user activates the skill and the skill, the tempering cycle should be repeated 27 times, no more, no less . The stats of the created weapon will increase by 40% whilst grant a bonus of 10% critical hit to it .
Please note if the temperature of the 27 repeated cycles is exactly the same, the weapon will have 100% chance of obtaining the passive skill (Blessed By Fire)
Blessed By Fire: All kinds of attacks will deal Fire Damage over time .
Once this final part was done, all that was left to be done is the completion part where the hilt of the axe needs to be added .
In contrary to what anyone would think, Arthur retrieved a red looking wood from his storage, cut it using a sharp dagger and shortened it to a good length and attached it to the axe . As he contemplated the finished product, he couldn’t help but feel a bit proud as it is the very first weapon he created on his own . It’s a shame that he doesn’t need one with the presence of Makaze and its extraordinary power and sharpness, but that didn’t stop him from having thoughts about crafting some special ones for his daughter and wife .
Congratulations! You just crafter a Mystic first Grade Two-handed axe . Please give it a name .
Arthur held the axe and swung it a few times, creating small airwaves . The grip was firm and the movement was flawless, of course, there is the part where his advanced axe mastery played a huge part but nonetheless, the finished product was pretty good, just from its rank, you would know that .
’Let’s see . . . . . I’ll name it Skullcleaver . ’
Are you sure you want to name it ’Skullcleaver’ Y/N?
’Yes’
’ting’
Skullcleaver(Mystic 1st Grade): A two-handed axe created by a master blacksmith . Received the effect of ’Heart of Fire’ and ’Blessed by Fire’ .
Stats: +75,500 Strength / +40,000 Vitality / +5,500 Agility / +5,500 Dexterity .
Heart of Fire: +40% stats / +10 Critical Hit
Blessed by Fire: All kinds of attacks performed by Skullcleaver will deal Fire Damage over time .
Perfect Foundation: If it is used to block, 25% of the damage will be negated (only applies to frontal damage) .
With the blue window laid in front of his eyes, Arthur felt ecstatic as he saw such a good weapon . Of course, if it is compared to Makaze, the stats bonus are hugely different but for a Lv800 warrior, an increase of 75,000 in Strength is like increasing his attacking power by another fold, who would refuse that .
Unfortunately, Jackob can’t this window like Arthur but he’ll surely feel the immense strengthening when he uses it . With a few more tests, Arthur was satisfied so he wrapped the long axe with a red cloth and put it in a large box that he took out from his storage . The box was put in a corner of the room then was completely ignored by Arthur, who wasted no time and proceeded in crafting a pair of daggers for Anastassia .
For those, he used only one very special material to create the edges and the sharpness . As per Zodiak’s notes, the black rock in Arthur’s hand was called Shadow Stone and is created by the formation of large densities of a small liquid mineral called Pondium . It is formed only after a very long time has passed and the rock is fully condensed when an enormous amount of liquid was solidified over the passing years .
Arthur didn’t have a large amount of these shadow stones, barely two rocks the size of a football, it was a meager amount but he doesn’t need them currently and using one to craft a friend a good weapon isn’t a bad decision .
The process was similar to the crafting of an axe but there were a couple of steps that are done differently . Unlike the Axe, since the stone couldn’t be hardened or melted, he had to forge it using a different way .
. . .
It was only a few hours later that he was done, a pair of two jet black daggers with a gray hilt were being inspected by Arthur . The symbol of the MoonStar sect was engraved on both hilts and the daggers were curved at the end, revealing a sharp pointy edge and an appearance that instantly merges with the darkness .
Anastassia was like an assassin, attacking from behind and hiding in the shadows, a fitting weapon for her it a weapon who matches her abilities and this pair of daggers would be considered weapons only meant for her, or people like her at least .
’Appraise!’
Shadowfall, Blades of the MoonWalker(Mystic 3rd Grade): A pair of daggers made by a master magic blacksmith . Received the effect of ’Heart of Darkness’ and ’Shadowfall’ .
Stats: +175,000 Dexterity / +250,000 Agility / +35,000 Strength / +12,500 Vitality .
Heart of Darkness: +75% Agility bonus (Can be activated once every 10 minutes) (Duration: 20 seconds)
Shadowfall: If the user is in the shadows, he gains an additional 15% in Dexterity and Agility and upon leaving the shadow area, the effect Shadowfall is activated .
Shadowfall(active): The user deals a huge amount of shadow damage over time . (35 seconds)
Since the material used and the method were a bit different, the grade of the weapon was obviously higher, Arthur couldn’t properly slash with his two daggers when his two hands are chained, so he refrained from testing them and hoped Anastassia will like them .
Now that these were done, the last weapon was for him but he’ll not craft it right now, he needs to take care of other things first . Just as he was about to teleport out of the room, his sense caught a running presence coming straight to his room .
It was actually a disciple of the Ma Clan, he knocked a few times before barging in and hastily saying
"S-sect master, sorry to bother you b-but it’s about Miss Lissandra . . . . s-she’s . . . "
The disciple hesitated for a few seconds and only finished his sentence when Arthur ushered him too
"She’s turned crazy and tried to kill herself!!"
---
Upon hearing to the Ma Clan disciple, Arthur frowned as he found it strange . His retracted Sense spread instantly and located Lissandra, who was struggling as two Ma Clan disciples were restraining her but since they didn’t want to put too much force, the grip was not strong and at this pace, she would break free soon . From her desperate look, it was obvious that she wants to jump off the balcony which was over ten floors above ground .
She lived in a private room in the main tower of the Sect . The Death Knight didn’t stop her from suiciding as an order like that was useless, or so thought Arthur as he didn’t need her much at this time so if she really wanted to kill herself then so be it, however, that was a couple of days ago, in the upcoming expedition, he needs her to come with him for various reasons with the main one being her vast knowledge about other worlds .
Arthur’s figure teleported away and with just two teleportations, he was already next to the struggling Lissandra . He motioned to the two disciples to let go of her and said
"Thanks for your help, I will take it from here . "
The disciples nodded and left, leaving only Arthur and Lissandra there . With a little use of the Telekinesis, it wasn’t that hard to restrain her movements .
"Let me go!"
Lissandra didn’t even spare him a glance, she kept struggling but to no avail, the Telekinesis was freezing her mid-air with no way to move an inch even if she was a thousand times stronger .
Witnessing the weird behavior of the usually obedient Lissandra, Arthur used [Eyes of the Noble Sea] to inspect the Energy inside her but there was no poison, infection or any entity controlling her . The only explanation is that she willingly attempted to kill herself but why would she do something like that, furthermore, right now of all times?
’Could she not cope with being a Mortal anymore?’
Arthur remained silent as he waited for her to stop resisting the pressing force and calm down .
. . . .
It was only a few minutes later that the ex-God managed to calm down a little . With an emotionless expression and deadpan face, she stared back at Arthur without uttering a single world . It’s as if she was dead on the inside, it was the same expression an emotionally devastated person would have, however, there were no reasons for her to become like this, at least not any that Arthur could think of .
She was the calculative type who never cared for anyone but herself and she doesn’t have any close relatives or anyone she tried to protect or loved, the biggest loss she suffered could be considered when she became a Mortal and lost all her accumulated efforts of the past centuries .
"So, care to explain what happened and why do you want to kill yourself?"
Ten seconds passed yet he heard no reply, not even a word came out of her mouth . She just vacantly stared at him with a strange look, it contained neither hatred, blame nor sadness or rage .
Arthur tried to touch the subject from another perspective so he added
"I’ll let you do whatever you want if you tell me why you wanted to kill yourself . "
" . . . It doesn’t matter, it’s too late anyway . "
And those were the last words Lissandra said before resuming her silence, no matter what Arthur said, whether it’s setting her free or anything, she didn’t even show a reaction, with the same look, she looked at the ground and stuck to ever-so-long silence .
Reaching no success, albeit he was quite curious about why she would try to commit suicide, he couldn’t get answers from her lips so he gave up and withdrew his telekinesis .
As to not let her do more foolish actions, Arthur told her to follow him to his room so he could keep her close and would be able to immediately react if she tried to kill herself in any way . He still needed her knowledge and losing such a resourceful person would be a waste . In her current state, she wouldn’t be able to retaliate and what would be bothersome is to get her to talk as torture probably wouldn’t work anymore .
. . . .
As the two of them were heading to Arthur’s room, Anastassia and Jackob met them in a four-way intersection inside the tower . From the look of it, Anastassia called Jackob and went to look for Arthur to see what’s going on .
"Follow me . "
Arthur only said that and kept walking toward his room . Jackob followed Arthur with Ace on his back, which replaced his axe’s place, he also seemed to have the used shell of the grenade on his belt . His eyes were shining and eager to see the next inventions Arthur is going to show them for he assumed that Arthur told them to follow him to show them new powerful weapons .
Soon, the four of them with the Death Knight previously which was previously protecting Lissandra standing at the far back, entered Arthur’s room .
Arthur gestured with his hands toward the two boxes, one small and a large one .
"The big one is for Jackob, the other is for Anastassia, test them and see if it’s good and if there is a problem, tell me so I can fix it before I go . "
The second he finished his sentence, Jackob leaped next to the large box and used his large arms to open it only to be welcomed by a sharp-looking, strange-colored huge axe .
Instinctively, Jackob picked the axe only to find it a bit heavy which surprised him . For someone with his body and Strength, there were very few things he would find heavy .
Unlike the inpatient Jackob, Anastassia stared at the axe in his hands and turned to look at Arthur, who looked at Jackob’s surprised expression with a proud look and a smirk hanging on his face .
"This is?"
The only reply to her question was a shrug from Arthur so she could only walk to the small box and open it . There, under a smooth looking purple cloth, laid a pair of daggers, their hilts were made from a gray material but what caught her eyes is the sharp jet black edges . They were a bit too long and curved a bit, she also noticed a circle with a seven-edge star inside of it .
Just like Jackob, she stretched her hands and held the daggers, the feeling was smooth and opposite to Jackob, the daggers were as light as feathers .
To begin with, Shadow Stones were a liquid, even after solidifying, their weight diminishes the older they are, it was noted that in some chaotic worlds, these Stones would be found floating high-up in the air in place of deep underground .
Recently, Arthur noticed that she broke through to the late stages of the Heavenly Realm, only a step away from being a Deity . For someone who doesn’t rely on possessing, it’s considered a good cultivating speed, although compared to Lucy, she’s a bit lacking .
Lucy managed to do what no one could do, fuse two opposite attributes and use that result to fight, the potency and effectiveness were extraordinary and albeit the high cost, it still allowed her, an Immortal to fight on par with Lissandra, who was a fully-grown God .
There was also the case where her stats are augmented due to the soul-link, nonetheless, it was by her own efforts and skills that she withstood the attacks of a God and assisted him in his operation .
. . .
"This is incredible! I can feel the infinite power surging in my body hahahaha! I want to smash things now!"
Jackob happily swung his new axe but in mid-swing, he was stopped by Anastassia who appeared in front of him and blocked the axe with the tip of the black dagger .
She knew that he was rather reckless and just that swing would destroy this room if he is not careful .
"Thank you for these weapons . Even without any tests, I can feel that they are totally fit for us . "
Anastassia seriously bowed at Arthur, showing her gratitude but that only made Arthur wave his hands and moving the chains with them whilst laughing and replying
"Hahaha there is no need to thank me, we are long-time friends . I took your skills in consideration so they shouldn’t hinder you if you get used to them, especially you Jackob, with a bit of effort, it won’t be a problem to fight a Spirit Realm with Skullcleaver . "
Jackob nodded continuously as he scratched the back of his head embarrassingly . Not only did he swing without holding back, he also swung at the direction of Lissandra, who stood there motionless and dead silent, he couldn’t help but feel guilty and awkward when he realized what he had done .
"Then we’ll be off . "
Anastassia glared at Jackob, clearly telling him to leave with her as he was still nodding with his two eyes glued to the axe in his hands . As for her, she sheathed her daggers and put them under the dark sleeves on her waist . She didn’t show it but she was honestly pleased with this pair of daggers as it was true, the moment she held them, she could feel the boost .
She just needs to sheath them for the system to activate the stats of the weapon equipped .
As they left the room, Anastassia stopped Jackob and coldly stared at him while smirking
"Look, you have a new weapon so let’s have a friendly spar . "
The joyful smile on Jackob’s face stiffened and the hold on his axe tightened, a drop of sweat appeared on his forehead as he looked around in panic . He didn’t give any reply, instead, he grabbed his axe and darted off the place .
It is, however, unfortunate for him as Anastassia softly smiled and disappeared from the hall in hot pursuit
************
Two days later, Arthur finally completed his preparation and did whatever he needed to do . Lissandra remained dead silent and except eating whatever Arthur handed to her, she literally did nothing .
He tried asking her a few more times but it was totally futile so he busied himself with the plan and didn’t pay her any more heed .
He didn’t need to warn Anastassia about enemies or Sect affairs as he knew she could handle them all so he just gave her the batch of grenades, mines, and flash grenades and departed to the North with Lissandra .
Arthur didn’t specifically organize a small meeting to say farewell as he hated them so he just went to Robin and talk over a few things with her but he was surprised to hear from her that she left the management of the E-clips Company in the East to the little boy Rey who insisted on doing that . Honestly, Arthur didn’t trust the devilish boy at all but it was Robin’s choice so he wasn’t going to interfere .
---
"Why do I think that it’ll be a long time since we’ll see him again?"
Jackob muttered those words as he watched the disappearing Dark Cloud on the horizon along with Anastassia, who was silently standing next to him .
"Instead of worrying about that go train with your toy as you can’t even wield it properly, it’s a waste in your hands . "
Anastassia snorted and disappeared into a black mist that soon dispersed due to the whistling wind .
. . . .
At noon the very same day they departed to the Demon Continent, the Dark Cloud entered the perimeter of the Demon City and in just seconds, it had already dived underground and arrived inside the cave . To make it easier, Arthur had already dug a special route to not circle around the countless rat-infested tunnels . He made a large hole from the first tunnel underground going all the way to the cave, one jump would suffice to arrive there, but that only applies for those who can survive that jump .
The only presence he felt in the cave was Gutcha, who was still pinned down by the vines and paralyzed by the poison, Arthur wouldn’t let such a dangerous foe roam free even if there is a cage made of thorny vines around him .
Taliya didn’t seem to be here but from the appearance of Gutcha, he noticed that the head maid used some torture means to get some information out of Gutcha’s mouth albeit the fact that he forbade her to get near him .
’Ha! Talk about a stubborn woman, at least Lucy is stubborn but will listen to me if I tell her not to do something . . . "
Arthur shook his head while letting out a long sigh, at least she didn’t straight out kill him or the plan to take her along would never work . He needed Gutcha as he is extremely crucial for the plan .
He wasn’t sure how strong the enemies were, if the leaders of Gutcha’s tribe is a God and adding the countless warriors with him then it’ll not be easy for Arthur to save the prisoners, he would be able to escape and would also be able to annihilate the whole territory with a Rizaki but that would injure him and most definitely kill everything as it did not discriminate .
"Hey, are you still alive?"
He could feel the heartbeat of Gutcha but the latter seemed to be unconscious . He had multiple blade wounds on his arms and legs and an unpleasant bloody hole in his left shoulder . Taliya was really merciless, maybe it was a dumb move to leave him exposed to her treatment .
Seeing the hideous monster in such a state, Arthur was forced to take out High Healing Potion and feed it to the unconscious Gutcha . The warm red liquid entered the huge mouth of the monster and in just a few seconds, the miraculous effect of the Potion began showing .
Even to Arthur, an injury suffered from a God would heal Gradually with or without a Potion but it’s certain that it’ll fasten the recovery by a fair bit .
In fact, Arthur’s Vitality is insanely High, even a God wouldn’t have that high recovery as it is one of the hardest stats to increase . It is only thanks to his High Vitality that he recovered in merely a few days after being injured by the Spatial Tears and the enormous explosion .
The blade scars began healing bit by bit and the bloody hole was slowly but surely closing . Arthur didn’t pay any more attention to Gutcha and walked to Lissandra, who was still in a dead-like state .
The woman was always looking down since her black hair was quite long, it covered her face and made her look a bit scary, but with a well-proportioned body fitting to a God which is probably the only thing she kept, no one would think she has an ugly face .
Since talking to her wouldn’t help him, Arthur just retrieved a small bed and a table filled with food and put them near Lissandra . She doesn’t react but she still eats her fill every day and that at least showed that is not completely broken .
. . .
The day of the departure is growing near and the final preparations are almost done, what is left is something that Arthur wanted to craft for himself, it’ll be impossible to use with these annoying chains on but he’ll keep it just in case .
With the use of his blacksmithing, Lost Magic, rare and unique materials and many miscellaneous skills that are helpful for crafting, he began at last .
Material after another was taken out of the storage rings, some were melted some were used immediately, Arthur was so busy that he didn’t notice Taliya, who had arrived a few minutes ago but as to not disturb him, she stood in a corner and simply watched .
His sense was retracted and his attention was wholly focused on what’s before him . At some point, when an unknown amount of time has passed, sweat drops trickled down his forehead, indicating how Mentally Exhausted he was .
This long and certainly burdensome and tiresome process was done exactly five hours later when a long string of notifications popped in front of him .
Congratulations! You have created ’Star’ .
For creating a special weapon, you obtain +50 Creation .
. . .
Arthur calmly contemplated his new creation with a soft smile on his face . He didn’t even bother to test it, he just took out a small red cloth from his storage and wrapped the weapon with it then he put the weapon in the one storage ring he never used .
It was his engagement ring, Lucy gave him one and he gave her one too . It was a low-quality silver ring but for Arthur, its worth is much more than any other storage ring .
He tapped the silver ring as he dazed off, lost in thoughts and was only woken up when Taliya walked up to him .
"Ah, you’re here?"
Taliya cast a glanced at the healed Gutcha and replied with a snort
"Hmpf! I have been here since a few hours ago . "
She didn’t want to admit it but seeing Arthur craft something with various unknown techniques and skills, she was quite engrossed and didn’t sense the time passing, it was only when he was done did she remember that she was standing for five straight hours .
She caught sight of Lissandra, who was quietly sitting on a bed at the side but that only made her annoyed as her opinion of Arthur kind of dropped a bit, seeing another woman with him, she thought that he’s collecting them on the purpose of having ’a comrade to pass the time with’ .
"Alright, enough useless talk, I’ll start explaining the plan so you better listen up closely, and if you are unwilling to follow it to the very letter, I’ll not bring you along . "
Arthur walked to Gutcha and gestured to Lissandra and Taliya to come . He was only afraid that Taliya would lose control and start rampaging if something were to happen to her niece, that would ruin her plans . There was the possibility of Gutcha backstabbing them but fortunately, he found a way to counter that .
With a strong enough slap from Arthur, Gutcha was woken up from his unconsciousness, he looked around dazedly and the moment his eyes landed on Taliya, he couldn’t help but curse at her
"You crazy evildoer!"
He already told Arthur everything he knew but when he left, Taliya started torturing him and asking him questions that have no sense or simply cannot be answered by him yet she still persisted until he fell unconscious .
Taliya maintained an expressionless face as if she did nothing and stared at Gutcha with cold eyes, forcing him to shut up .
Arthur didn’t mind and ignored what just happened when everyone calmed down and he could hear nothing but silence, he started explaining the exact process of the operation .
"The plan is simple if you follow what I say . We three are hostages brought by Gutcha when a fight occurred which resulted in the death of his comrade . Since we’re hostages, I don’t think they’ll kill us but will imprison us with the rest, which will let us confirm the identity of all the other hostages . "
Lissandra didn’t show any reaction but Taliya wasn’t totally convinced so she retorted
"What if they decide to kill us instead?"
"They won’t, unless you purposely provoke them and at that time, I will not step out to save you, each their own when we are there . "
Gutcha was flabbergasted as he heard that Arthur and co were planning on letting themselves be held prisoners . He found the idea idiotic and too favorable for himself, however, before he could have any malicious thoughts, Arthur raised his hands and an orange creepy looking thing appeared . It had flames on its top and its insides burned with raging flames . Its size was small than a fist and the second it appeared, it dived straight at his chest and entered it . He closed his eyes, expecting to feel pain but naught came, it’s as if nothing happened .
"W-what did you do?"
Gutcha didn’t know what happened but he wasn’t dumb enough to think that the creepy thing with scary facial features that entered his chest was nothing but a small show .
"It’s just a precaution and a warning . If you try anything out of place, say anything which does not comply with the plan, I assure you that by the next second, your body will exist no more . "
The bound monster gulped his saliva and stared fearfully at his chest, he could feel nothing but that was for the best as Arthur implemented a ticking bomb inside of him, the one and only Sensor Detonator .
He was able to successfully reduce its size and potency, it can enter a target’s body and wait for him to detonate it . He ordered it to detonate if the distance between him and Gutcha reached a certain limit as in this way, Gutcha can’t escape or act against him or he’ll just meet his own demise .
. . . .
Arthur passed the next hour to fully explain the plan to the very last detail without forgetting to warn Taliya to not act rashly again and again . Gutcha didn’t dare oppose anything and would continuously nod his head whilst swearing to do his best to let them successfully infiltrate his tribe without bringing any suspicions .
The long talk just ended and when Arthur was going to take out the Book of the Damned to try something, A blue streak of lightning flew straight at him and entered his consciousness .
Astrith had returned from his missions and instantly resumed his evolution after telling Arthur that he disposed of every single member of Gutcha’s Race that was hiding on Astria . He didn’t search every corner of Astria as that would take a very long time even with his extreme speed, however, with the help of Gutcha, who provided various hideouts of his comrades, the wolf was able to easily locate them .
To Arthur’s surprise, all of the other comrades of Gutcha resisted and fought to their last breath, which made him think .
’Is this Gutcha a smart person or is he just so cowardly and afraid of death that he would denounce his comrades?’
He saved his own life by telling the truth but at the same time, he had forsaken his own tribe and comrades . Arthur didn’t know that Gutcha didn’t hold any special connection with his tribe so he presumed that this hideous looking monster is just a coward who, like everyone else, would do anything to not die .
With the threat of these monsters gone from Astria, Arthur felt a bit of relief as another invader was taken care of .
. . . .
Arthur took out the Book of the Damned and summoned the rotten hand, which stretched out of the yellow and old looking page and wriggled in the air . He sat in front of the book and closed his eyes, crossing his legs and putting his hand down, he focused and would take out a few materials out of his storage every now and then .
The concept of the rotten hand is easy, it would block any incoming attack if possible then store that energy and release it when the user wills it . The released energy is usually a big blast or some kind of beam, but Arthur wanted to store energy but release a small concetrated result .
He took out a small red ore and raised it to the hand whilst unleashing astronomical amounts of Ancient Fire . The Red Ore and the Flames released by Arthur were fully absorbed by the rotten hand, which in return pulsated with a red light . Arthur patiently waited for the result to come out and only after an hour did a small red object come out of the disgusting skin of the hand .
Seeing that the result was what he wished for, Arthur felt ecstatic and without further ado, he took out another Red Ore and repeated the process .
-----
The morning of the sixth’s day, Arthur opened his eyes after a long meditation and said with a voice neither too loud or too low but enough for the people present to hear him .
"It is time to depart . "
Gutcha said that if he wasn’t defeated he had to go come back to his tribe to report every week and if something happened, the delay can be prolonged to ten days . The ten days didn’t pass yet but Arthur didn’t want to stretch it to the last second as the plan would seem plausible only if he came back right now .
He was ambushed and lost his comrade by he managed to get rid of the opposing parties and caught those who surrendered . As for Arthur, he was one of the ambushing enemies, however, he was apprehended by Gutcha and chained to restrict his movements .
Quite a simple plan indeed but it all fell on Gutcha’s way of describing what happened . Taliya also needs to hold back her anger and act calmly, it would be perfect if she acted like the current Lissandra .