Once Human, Now a Parasite 154 Chapter 151 : Generous Rewards

Arthur used more than an hour to get used to his current strength and to test several magical attacks. He was still going to use a katana but this time, he'll make proper use of his attributes to either slow down the opponent or even blind his vision to guarantee a successful attack.

*Please pick your weapon*

*List:

One-handed Axe: 1,000 damage

....*

'Give me the usual Katana.'

*Do you wish to pick 'Sharp Katana: 850 damage?*

'Yes'

A long katana which was a bit curved appeared in Arthur's hand. He swung it a few times and confirmed the beginning of the last phase. He picked a katana when he started adjusting his body but when he tried slashing the ground, the weapon broke into countless pieces. Not even his flames could scratch the clean white ground.

*The last phase will be against yourself. Your opponent will wield the same weapon, skills, and techniques but he will have stats that are higher than yours.

.... Countdown beginning: 10..9..8..7..6...*

'Myself?'

Once he heard he's going to fight himself, Arthur was first confused than surprised. He thought that maybe he'll fight that lame copy of his but that seemed rather unlikely as when it talked to him an hour ago, it said that they'll not meet after he cleared the phase but then again, it never said that they'll not meet when the phase begins.

As he was contemplating and pondering what 'himself' meant, Arthur was interrupted when a weird sound rang in his ears and diverted his attention to its source.

Usually, whitey and his brothers would pop from the white ground and began to construct into a humanoid shape but this time, a strange black door appeared.

The door slowly opened whilst emitting some creaking sounds and from the other side, Arthur could only see total darkness and nothing more.

It was only after a few seconds that a figure similar to Arthur entered the white space through the black door. It wore the same clothes as him but the face was sinister as it was grinning evilly and displaying an unpleasant face. If Arthur had to pick, he would definitely pick the lame copy over this one. At least the copy was just lame and talkative but this one was silent and creepy, if not for its appearance, he would never have thought that it's him.

Arthur's copy also wielded a katana but its katana was jet black and looked a bit threatening with a black aura around it, in some ways, it resembled Makaze but this weird system training Arthur wouldn't be so unfair as to give Makaze to his opponent, right?

The battle began when Arthur's copy launched itself at Arthur, the black katana slashed the air and created several dark arcs made from pure sword energy, at the same time, it used the Earth attribute to raise three walls around Arthur to stop him from dodging its attacks.

It was quite a clever tactic, even Arthur was momentarily startled as he thought of using it not a second ago yet here it is using his plan against him. Seeing the incoming materialized sword energies, Arthur used [Earthen Wall] under his feet to raise a small wall that flung him 60 degrees toward his copy.

With the boost gained from the ball and adding his high stats, Arthur rotated his body mid-air and swung his katana down at the incoming attacks. He only swung it one time, it was a slow swing but you could hear a loud sound emanating from his katana.

[Hole in One Lv1]: The user sacrifices 15% of his current Health to unleash a devastating attack (can be used with any weapon or with bare fists).

Arthur didn't hesitate as he used [Hole in One] and added Natural Lightning to his slash to further strengthen it and to ascertain its success in blocking the sword energies and hurting his copy.

Unlike the sword energies created by his copy, the attack he just unleashed was not in the form of a curved arc but it was a bright green beam that shot at the black arcs and cut through them all. All that was left was dissipating sword energies that slowly vanished in the white space.

As for the green beam, it shot at his copy with an unbelievable, its momentum and power were truly incredible. Unfortunately for Arthur, he was fighting himself and albeit using a strong attack and perfectly blocking such strong sword energies, it will not be easy to fight an opponent several times stronger than him.

His copy passed its hand on its black katana, making it glow with a dark red flame then it leaped at the green beam and stabbed its katana at the green beam.

With its flaming katana, Arthur's copy kept grinning as it cut the green beam in two and was only pushed back a few steps by his attack. It sustained no damage and to further worsen the situation, it didn't just linger there after deflecting his attack.

It suddenly teleported in front of Arthur and struck with its flaming sword, clearly aiming for his neck. In response to that, Arthur raised his Katana to block and used his other free hand to punch his copy's chest. A katana was met with another katana and his fist was also blocked with his copy's fist, a totally symmetric position.

As they were trying to overpower each other, Arthur used [Flame Spear] and tried to stab his copy in the back but the dark red spear was blocked by an [Earthen Wall] that suddenly appeared from below. The spear easily destroyed the wall but it was met with another wall and so on until it was dissipated.

'It seems the ancient flames was weakened... definitely!

No matter how many walls are raised, a flame spear like that would be able to easily penetrate all of them with ease yet the flame spear he just used dissipated after destroying four walls.

Seeing his copy still smirking, clearly mocking him for using such weak and useless tricks. Arthur let go of the Katana, which was instantly cut in two pieces but he didn't care about that, he concentrated his power in his leg and used [Enhancement] then he performed a roundhouse kick and struck his copy in its waist on the right side.

[Enhancement]: The Physical damage done by the user will be increased.

Cost: 75 Stamina per sec.

His copy was a second too late to block the incoming kick but it was only sent flying after a bit of its katana penetrated two inches in Arthur's right shoulder.

It was a fair trade but that's what any spectator would think, however, Arthur's kick was way more powerful than his copy's strike.

The copy was sent stumbling on the ground and rolling dozens of meters away from Arthur. The right side of its waist was completely shattered due to Arthur's kick, it took it a couple of seconds to properly get up and stabilize its body.

"Wipe that creepy ass smile off your face and come at me."

Arthur was the one smirking right now, he didn't even bother checking his wound, it was not too serious and with his current Vitality, it wouldn't take much for it to heal. The same thing goes for his Copy but shattered bones would take a bit more times even though the copy has higher stats.

Having his weapons cut in two pieces, Arthur had physical weapons to use so he could only conjure two sharp flaming daggers in each hand. He didn't wait for his enemy to recover, with two flaming daggers in his hands, he rushed at the opponent and when he was around 10m away from the grim faced copy, he suddenly created a clone of himself using [Shadow Magic] and instantly teleported behind his copy.

It's a bit surprising that the clone skill of the Shadow Magic was considered a basic skill but Arthur was not going to complain, it's available and useful so he had to use it.

The clone did as ordered and used the two fakes flaming daggers to slash at the knees of the copy. As for Arthur, who just teleported behind his opponent, he sliced with his daggers, using the assassin's two deadly skills [Backstab] and [Slice and Dice].

[Backstab]: The user attacks from behind guaranteeing a critical hit and dealing 350% damage.

[Slice and Dice]: A fast hack of both the user's daggers (185% damage). It can be used as a combo after using [Backstab] and in that case, it'll also deal a critical hit and deals 370% damage and activates the bleeding effect for 15 seconds.

The copy was not an opponent to be underestimated but albeit being created by the ARK, it was by no means a stupid opponent, it could even be considered a sentient being.

It realized that the frontal Arthur was just a clone when it felt a chilling aura behind its back. It was too late to use [Faster Than Death] but blocking is another thing. It tried to mimic Arthur and used [Earthen Wall] to fling itself high in the air, avoiding the flying daggers and Arthur's deadly combo but such tactic was already foreseen by Arthur.

"Oh no you won't!"

As the combo was going to land, Arthur made use of the Ice attribute and froze all the ground around him and his copy to make it impossible for a fast and sudden earthen wall to pop up from the ground. It may not stop the wall from coming out but it'll drastically slow it and buy him enough time to land his combo.

With it being in such a desperate situation, the clones abandoned any thoughts of facing the flying daggers and turned around and used its black katana to block the flaming daggers of Arthur.

"Haha, fool!"

As Arthur mocked his copy, his two daggers were met with the katana and his combo was blocked before the second skill was activated but all of this was expected by Arthur. The two flaming daggers which his clones threw at his copy suddenly merged together and transformed into a big fireball.

The copy turned its back and ignored the daggers because it deemed Arthur's combo to be more dangerous and deadly than two flying daggers which were thrown by a clone made by Shadow Magic but what it didn't expect is that those daggers were real ones and Arthur planned this from the start, the moment he teleported, he secretly passed his daggers to the clone and conjured another pair just as he appeared behind his copy.

'BOOOM'

The fireball his the copy's back, burning its clothes and making it wail and fly high up in the air. Arthur decided to fall back just as the fireball was going to hit or else he'll be hurt too since his fire resistance has been lowered.

"Now the final touch."

Arthur let go of his flaming daggers and jumped at his copy, which just crashed into the ground and wailed from pain caused by the flames.

'It's sentient after all.... fascinating yet scary...'

Arthur showed no mercy as he stood next to his copy which was rolling on the ground and trying to touch its back.

'ting ting ting'

Low noises made from the invisible threads were heard, the threads twirled around the copy's limbs and without any hesitation, Arthur used a bit of force and severed all the copy's limbs then he looked at its eyes, which were staring at him fearfully, and said.

"A copy can never beat an original, you may have my skills but not my memories or battle experience. So what if you're a lot stronger in terms of stats? Numbers are not everything and this clearly shows it."

A white drill the size of a fist was created by countless small threads, it spun with a fast speed and penetrated the copy's skull, killing it on the spot and finishing this beginner's phase once and for all.

*Congratulations! You passed the third phase.*

*Congratulations! You finished the Beginner's Phase.*

*Performance:

Physical Score: 97/100

Skills Score: 71/100

Magic Score: 66/100

Battle Score: 78/100

Weapon Score: 6.5/10

Time Spent: 134 minutes 49 seconds. 'Average'

Overall score: 75/100 'Great Job' *

Rewards: +4 Grades, +40% to Health/Stamina/Energy Regen. +25M to all stats. +40 Creation.*

'These are definitely worth it...'

Arthur contemplated the rewards and was ecstatic as they were really incredible, especially the increase in Grades. Each breakthrough in a grade makes the limit of his stats a bit higher than the last one, so he can possess more corpses and add more stats each time he broke through to a higher Grade. Moreover, he gained another boost in stats too.

Although he doesn't use the Lost Magic which was related to the Creation stats in battle, it's nevertheless useful in many ways. There is also the tactic of flash bombs, it was quite useful last time so Arthur was planning on creating more in times of despair so he could use them to escape or the blind an enemy.

He can also create simple clothes and countless weapons, be it swords or guns but they are not very powerful, the stats are considered cheat for normal people but compared to Makaze, it's literally nothing.

On his own, Makazer increases by 4 million in Agility and 5 in Strength and it stopped at that only because Arthur had to breakthrough as the sword's power matched its master's.

"So how can I leave this place?"

Arthur faced the rotating cube and questioned, there was only him and that object in this endless white space and he was given no information or instruction on how to leave.

*You can leave by holding the ARK and saying 'Dra'lim'. You can also choose to stay and train more, all your stats and skills have been recovered and they will only be revoked again in case you enter the next trial."

"Next Trial."

*You do not meet the necessary requirements for the next trial: Divine Realm 5th Grade.*

"But my battle power is way above the Divine Realm, doesn't that count? If we're talking about Stats, mine should equal a God's."

*Numbers are irrelevant. To gain access to the next trial, you need to reach the Divine Realm 5th Grade.*

"Irrelevant you say.... we'll see about that in the future. How do I enter the ARK again from outside?"

*To enter the ARK, all you need to do is say 'Dra'lka'. You cannot enter the ARK whilst being in battle-mode.*

Arthur nodded and walked to the cube, ready to leave this place. For now, he'll settle his matter with the Demon Lord and he'll return here to investigate more.

'Dra'lim'

Arthur said the words and instantaneously, his surroundings warped and his mind became hazy whilst his body felt as if it was carrying a mountain. It was the same exact feeling as when he was experiencing those weird dreams, however, this one was a bit tenser than usual.

The process took mere seconds but for Arthur, it felt like an eternity with the pain striking his mind and disturbing his thoughts, making him unable to move properly or think of a way to stop it, he was totally helpless.

It finally ended when Arthur's eyes opened and landed on Mikayla, the Demon Lord. He couldn't help but cough a mouthful of black blood. It was a sudden action made by him which alerted Taliya and the others but none of them acted, they just stared at him startled and confused.

After all, he just coughed blood out of nowhere. The husband and Taliya thought that the Demon Lord used her special eyes to damage Arthur but the silver-haired woman softly shook her head as she was just as confused as them.

Arthur was stuck in the white space for a long time but in reality, it was just two seconds, just enough time to blink his eyes.

The black blood was not a bad sign but Arthur felt a strong headache for some reason. He could feel his muscles and bones strengthening and hardening, his Mental Power grew to an unbelievable degree and he could feel an immense power inside his Dantian.

He just grew by four Grades and earned a lot of stats, so such a feeling is common but the weird thing is an annoying headache which wouldn't stop even after a couple of seconds have passed since he came out of the ARK.

'I wasn't warned about this!'

Arthur activated the pain Immunity which lifted some of the pain away but not all of it, nonetheless, Arthur bore with it and shifted his focus to the three others.

"Do not mind that."

Arthur waved his hand, burning the black blood which splattered on the ground. He didn't know what it was exactly as it clearly wasn't normal blood but he had a strong hunch that they are impurities or something that was inside of him and hurting him, now that it's out then there is no need to think about it.

Now that the pain quietened and the matter of the ARK has been put aside, Arthur went back to the main topic.

"So you're saying you don't want to negotiate?"

Arthur clearly heard what the Demon Lord said earlier and it seems she regards the maid highly and trying to win her over would be practically impossible. He wasn't interested in political topics and since Mikayla didn't seem to be the kind of person of who abandons her people, just giving priceless treasures wouldn't change her decision.

Moreover, Taliya is the Demon Lord's sister so that adds to her importance for Mikayla. Although it was regrettable, Arthur wasn't going to insist too much, if he's lucky, he'll find a person like Mikayla so he can pass the time with him, at least until he finds Lucy.

With nothing more to do here, Arthur got up from his seat and prepared to leave the room as there is nothing else to talk about, at least nothing he was interested in talking about. There was the matter of Lucy's origins but seeing Mikayla's demeanor, he was absolutely sure she wouldn't talk whether he talked to her with a friendly attitude or tortured her.

"Wait."

With the usual cold and calm voice, the Demon Lord stopped Arthur as she kept staring at him but there was a soft frown on her face as if she was struggling with something.

"The negotiations are over. Except for your maid, I'm not interested in anything else, no need to waste our time talking about something that will lead to nowhere."

Arthur didn't even bother turning to look at Mikayla as he continued walking out of the room but he halted in his steps once heard the next sentence.

"I never said I won't hand my head maid to you, you just assumed that by yourself. However, I won't give my sister for an unknown person for a treasure or an object that is but a means to an end."

"Then stop talking in riddles and get straight to the point. What do you want?"

Arthur faced the Demon Lord and stared into her eyes, it was but a stare but for Mikayla, she felt as if she was engulfed by a dark abyss. His eyes were sharp and cold as if she was going to be devoured alive at any second.

It was just the effect of [Bloodlust], it was quite effective since she's weaker than him but she managed to resist it, contrary to Rey who couldn't even lift a finger after being affected by it.

The Demon Lord dropped her head and stared at the floor, seemingly lost in thought. She only snapped out of it when the middle-aged man tapped her shoulder. There was a hint of sadness and bitterness lingering on her face, especially in her eyes. Some unwillingness and hesitation, as if she wasn't sure about what to do.

".... I want you to destroy the Human Empire."

As if expecting to hear that, Arthur gave an almost immediate answer.

"That is not possible."

"... Then help the Demons invade the Human Empire."

Whilst shaking his head, Arthur shrugged his shoulders and casually replied

"That is practically the same thing. I can't personally help you invade the Human Empire but I can give you an army."

Mikayla had some hopes after discovering how strong Arthur was but these two replies crushed all her hopes. She didn't need to see his real strength to know the difference between the two of them. He immediately knew she was the real Demon Lord and just a stare from him made her body shiver on its own. That is more proof than needed.

"Army?"

Arthur nodded his head and waved his hand, spawning a normal skeleton warrior. The strongest normal skeleton that he could summon is a Lv150 Skeleton but that is if he doesn't Mental Power. Necromancy didn't use Mana since the moment he broke through the Mortal Realm but if he uses Mental Power, then the spawned undead would be much stronger, however, the regen of Mental Power took hours if not days.

The skeleton wielded a rusty blade and a black shield that was half of its size. He could also spawn a mage or archer skeletons, as for Death Knights and such, the price would cost more and he wasn't willing to give the Demon Lord such strong Undead under her command.

It would cause a lot of trouble if the current balance on Astria is broken because of him. The current situation is calm despite a few small wars but it isn't too threatening. The clans are reclusive and just compete against each other, as for the Humans and Demons, it's fine as long as the current stalemate situations remain for some time until his sect starts establishing peace.

He wasn't going to order Anastassia to rule over Astria, but he's still going to stop these two Races from battling any further and causing countless casualties. The enemy may come at any second to attack the World Tree and they should unite instead of doing needless wars for small pieces of lands or stupid political reasons.

"This is a normal Skeleton with a Level of 150, I can spawn as many as you want of these, however, you must first tell me the reason you want to destroy the Human Empire."

Each time the word Human was mentioned, a look of disgust and hatred would appear on their faces, their loathe and hate for the Humans seemed to be really deep so Arthur wanted to know why is it like this. As for as he knew, the Human Emperor didn't seem to be the tricky and evil person who only seeks power, he could also be mistaken but that was far unlikely.

Mikayla didn't seem the rush or idiotic type too, so he was curious on why these two rulers are battling each other and waging wars when they can remain in their own continent and just stay at peace. After all, there were countless perks in creating an alliance between them.

Humans and Demons may loathe each other but there can be reconciliation, maybe not today or this year, but after a decade or a century of an alliance, a change may occur.

...

The middle-aged man was the one who couldn't hold it any longer, with a clenched fist and a shaky voice, he explained to Arthur the real situation.

"W-we never wanted to rule Humans.... maybe the previous Demon Lord had other motives... b-but"

As he was going to finish, Mikayla stared at him, motioning him to stop talking but he just softly smiled back at her and took her hand, reassuring her and resumed speaking.

"It's fine. If we got the number we can finally....."

With a resolute look, the middle-aged man looked at Arthur and added

"It was about five years ago, the Human Empire had a spy who managed to attain a high position in the Demon Ranking. The spy managed to invade our manor and successfully kidnapped out beloved daughter.... since that night, we never stopped our assault on the Humans and sent many experts to try and retrieve her but we couldn't even locate where she is."

Hearing this, Arthur was a bit confused because when he visited the Human Emperor last time, he didn't see any strong presence guarding him. It was obvious that the Demon Lord was way stronger than the guards around the Emperor but why is it that they were not possible to retrieve their daughter?

".... Humans are a weaker Race than us, however, they can reproduce quickly and their numbers far exceed us, albeit having more power, we cannot foolishly engage in all-out war and risk the lives of all our Race just for the sake of our daughter. Moreover, the Human Emperor has two many experts around him at all times, even my wif-- The Demon Lord cannot beat them."

'Two guards? That's impossible!'

Arthur would have definitely sensed them. Although he wasn't that strong when he visited the Emperor last time, his level was low but his strength was quite frightening compared to mortals. Moreover, he slapped the Emperor's wife last time, if there was indeed two guards, they would have acted last time. There's got to be a mistake somewhere.

"Are you sure? Two guards? Last time I checked, he had no one strong next to him."

"Last time you checked?"

Taliya never had a good impression of Arthur, hearing what he just said, her suspicions of him being a human spy were strengthened even further.

"Yes, I visited him a few years ago and he didn't have any powerful guards with him."

Mikayla pieced somethings together, and before her sister could talk, she hesitantly spoke

"D-don't tell me the large undead army stationed around the Human Continent is yours?"-Mikayla

"Yes, it was a gift from me to the Emperor."

"a gift? I knew it! You're with the filthy Humans!"

Taliya couldn't maintain her calm attitude, she unsheathed both her short blades and charged at Arthur, intending to finish him once and for all.

Taliya didn't even cross the small distance of a dozen meters before she was frozen mid-air but Arthur's strings. She was a bit rash but not idiotic, Arthur was not ruthless to the point of killing her for doing this.

Taliya struggled and tried moving her blades to cut the strings but that was only wishful thinking as she couldn't even move an inch. She could only stare at him hatefully, with piercing eyes, wishing she could rip him into pieces.

----------------

In the endless Void, the surroundings were as creepy and ominous as ever, with countless bright flashes far away and small destroyed planets everywhere.

The Grim Reaper was floating in the Void with its long gray scythe in its hands and its two eyes pulsating with a red light. It was silently floating in a specific direction and all the spatial tears and unusual fluctuation didn't affect it one bit. It passed through them as if they didn't exist in the first place.

The Grim Reaper floated for an unknown amount of time, it didn't care about time nor did it care about what's happening around it, it had a job to do and nothing can kill a Grim Reaper except Death Itself.

The trip was boring and unexciting, the Grim Reaper only stopped after he was met with an unexpected encounter. With its two eyes still pulsating but a bit more rapidly, as if it was happy, the Grim Reaper looked ahead and spoke with a cold and chilling voice

"You're the top target on my list, I would say what a coincidence to meet you here but I can't think of it as a coincidence, knowing who you are. Am I wrong, Joker? Or should I call you 'The Playful Magician'? Or Godslayer? Or even 'the last surviving person from the Omega Universe?'"

A funny-looking joker that resembled the one in a normal deck of cards appeared a distance away from the Grim Reaper. It played with two cards in its hand and displayed a wide grin on its face.

"Hahahaha, it's nice to meet you again, really nice! Hahahaha, I remember last time you put up a good fight!"

The scythe in the Grim Reaper's hand transformed into a bigger black scythe with a white skull in its center, the appearance was horrifying and its size was simply too big for the Grim Reaper to wield it as its weight alone must be astonishing yet the skeleton easily swung it around as it was weightless.

"Last time huh? It must be before I died.... the life of a Grim Reaper is quite long after all.... now there will be no distractions or interruptions.... shall we begin?"

"Hahahahahha! That's how I like it! Less talking and more fighting, it's always fun to play a game!"

With a strange posture and an inclined back, the Joker stared at the Grim Reaper with its yellow eyes and added

"It isn't a game if there is no prize right? Hahahahah, name what you want!"

".... You really live up to your reputation.... if it's a game you want then it shall be! I have a lot of free time you see... I wouldn't mind how you survived and were the only surviving person of your Universe. Even my master, Death itself it quite curious about that... I can't say I'm not too."

Hearing about this topic again, the aura around the Joker became colder and more domineering, his eyes sharpened but his smirk remained. After keeping silent for a few seconds, he laughed again and replied

"Hahahahah! So it is the truth you seek, you're not the first one but..... truth comes with a price, hahahahaha! The only way to beat me if to kill me, to defeat me without killing me is.... hahahahahahha! Let's play let's play!!!! In return, if I win, I want your life!"

-----

The battle finally began when the Joker charged at the Grim Reaper. Although there was no place to walk or run on, the Joker was casually running on the Void which is not something that can be easily done. Even the Grim Reaper had to float or fly to move around.

From what Arthur previously saw, on board of that old looking ship, the Joker had an incredible physical strength, he overpowered all his enemies with simple roundhouse kicks or punches. He would sometimes use his cards but he focused mainly on his physical ability.

The distance that was separating them was crossed in a very short time by the smirking Joker, he did a push kick straight at the Grim Reaper's chest but his talon boot was stopped by the big scythe which covered almost all of the Reaper's body.

The Joker ignored the Scythe and just as his boots were going to meet with the scythe, he rotated mid-air and used his other foot to perform a back kick which hit the sharp side of the scythe.

His movements were flawless and incredibly fast, by the time the Grim Reaper was able to react, he was already flung away by the strong power behind the Joker's kick. Although his weapon blocked most of the attack, he was still pushed back.

"You know that Physical attacks won't work on me, it's just a waste of time."

Whilst saying that the Grim Reaper stabilized his body and faced the Joker, who was still grinning creepily.

Turning a deaf ear to the opponent, the Joker laughed and ran towards the Grim Reaper, clearly planning to use physical attacks just like a second ago.

The Grim Reaper may be practically immortal, but albeit not sustaining any damage from the Joker's physical attacks, he isn't going to underestimate his enemy and just stay still and let himself be flung around in the endless Void.

It fully knew the Joker's capabilities and although it told Arthur it was Immortal, it is actually not. It had died many times in the past and there is a number of things which can hurt it.

The Joker was on top of its list for a reason and it is certainly not going to hold back.

The large scythe slashed the Void and conjured several old looking skeletal heads that wailed and dived at the Joker. At the same time, the Grim Reaper opened a small rift in the Void and entered it. It didn't take it a split second to appear from another rift just behind the Joker.

"It is not good to be stubborn, Godslayer!"

The Grim Reaper activated another special power, it gripped the Void and rotated its free hand creating a purple whirlpool which was a bit similar to the one Zodiak used against Delia.

With a large whirlpool behind him and a dozen wailing skeletal heads to the front, the Joker was in a bad situation but he didn't even show a worried look, in fact, his laugh became louder and his smirk widened.

"Hahahahaha! Yes yes, this is what I want!"

The Joker lifted his left hand which had a normal looking card and said

"3♣ Serpent Creed!"

Seeing the Joker using the cards, the Grim Reaper knew that the fight finally started. Everyone who knew about the Joker or heard rumors, they would know he is a Real Magic user but no one knew how he used the Magic.

He didn't rely on any kind of Energy but pure Magic, the one told in ancient tales and legends. He came from a Universe that didn't have any Energy so its inhabitants used Magic but something happened and the universe was obliterated with no survivor but this psychopath Joker.

A black snake appeared around the hand that was holding the card, it was barely fit around the Joker's hand. Its eyes were empty and everything, including its sharp fangs, were black.

The serpent blurred after it just appeared and soon, it turned into a serpent looking claws with its fangs being the sharp edges of each finger. The Joker didn't even spare a look to his new claws, he just swung his hand at the wailing skulls and instantly got rid of them.

It was hard to explain what happened as the skulls just turned blurry and then dissipated into the Void. What was left was the fearsome whirlpool. It spun slowly yet the aura and pressure it was emitting were horrifying.

The Joker backed away a few steps, pointed his claws at the whirlpool then closed his fist.

"What do you think is more powerful, your attack, or my lovely serpent? Hahahahaha."

The fist pointed at the whirlpool turned into a black blob which in turn transformed into a serpent head that was hissing. The serpent head opened its mouth and spit what seemed to be a black foggy beam which shot straight toward the whirlpool's center.

Such whirlpools were quite enigmatic and unlike any usual clash, no explosion happened, the black beam kept shooting inside of the whirlpool but the latter was devouring all the attack as if it was nothing.

Despite seeing his attack not doing a thing, the Joker kept laughing and the serpent never stopped spitting the long endless beam, powered by whatever power the Joker was using.

The Grim Reaper didn't stay still and watch, it vanished again and used the same method as earlier to appear behind the Joker.

The large Scythe was slashed at the back of the Joker yet the target was still laughing as if he was never in danger. The Scythe was just going to strike his back when two more Jokers appeared from both directions of the Grim Reaper. Both of them punched the Grim Reaper on its chest, sending it flying far away.

" 2♥ Heart's Haze!"

At the same time the Grim Reaper was sent flying, the whirlpool couldn't hold it anymore and exploded in countless purple dots that were made from Void.

"Hahahaha! It is quite simple when you figure out how the Void works! You have to try harder or else it'll be boring! Come on come on!!!"

The Grim Reaper still sustained no damage from the two punches but it wasn't that happy because dealing with the Joker wouldn't that easy. Honestly, it never expected or even wished for its whirlpool to work, it was only meant to slow the Joker for a bit.

After getting rid of the whirlpool, the Joker turned around and dashed toward the Grim Reaper again but this time, two more Jokers joined the fray and charged at the Grim Reaper too.

They immediately charged at the opponent since the moment they punched it so they were a bit ahead of the real Joker. They attacked from the left and right side of the Grim Reaper, they didn't even let it adjust its body or stop it from being flung away, they were just too fast compared to it but their attacks were not dealing any damage.

The first Joker to reach the Grim Reaper did an Axe kick aimed at the target's head, as for the second Joker, it sidestepped behind the Grim Reaper before it was sent flying down and used his knee to strike the Reaper's back, pushing it toward the incoming real Joker.

With no way to retaliate against such a speed, the Grim Reaper could only raise its scythe and spin its body like a car's wheel as it was pushed toward the Joker.

Using the serpent again, the Joker made a grabbing motion with his serpent. The black serpent head appeared again and the serpent's mouth was opened horizontally with its black fangs ready to kill anything in its way.

The Grim Reaper spun its entire body along with the large scythe, from afar, it looked like a sharp black wheel. A gray fog was being emanated from the large black wheel as it made its way toward the Joker, who was happily waiting for it with a creepy smirk.

It didn't take long from the black serpent head and the large wheel to clash with each other. Sounds similar to lightning were ringing in the Void, long lines exactly similar to lightning streaks were raging around the Joker and the Grim Reaper.

The purple lines were hitting everything around it, whether it's scattered rocks or spatial tears that were occurring around them. The clash lasted for twenty seconds before both of them were pushed back. The Joker was surprisingly pushed further and a ten-inch blade slash appeared on his left shoulder. You could even see blood stains on his clothes.

As for the Grim Reaper, it didn't look like he suffered any damage but the Joker was not that weak or stupid to the point that he could not deal any damage even with his Magic.

"You cannot be injured? Hahahahah, this is the funniest joke I've ever heard since a long time hahahaha"

The Joker examined his wound but when seeing the bloodstains, he became more excited as his yellow eyes brightened. He touched his wound and licked the blood that appeared on his finger.

"2♥ Heart's Haze! 3♣ Serpent Creed!"

As the Joker shouted this again, both the black serpent and the two Jokers behind him turned into a card but this wasn't the end. The two cards floated in front of the Joker, he caught them and spoke again

"5♦ Magician's Hat!"

The two cards merged together and a black Magician's hat appeared along with a red stick above it. The Joker grinned and grabbed both of them whilst saying

"Do you wish to see a magic trick? It's simple hahahahah! What do you think will come out from here?"

The Joker pointed the stick toward the hat in his hand and asked the Grim Reaper, which was already flying at him.

The Scythe was no longer in its hands, it now wielded a decayed bronze sword that had countless terrified faces engraved on it, it was a creepy looking sword with a withering aura around it.

"Giving me the silent treatment? Hahahaha, then I'll answer for you... it's a PIGEON! Hahahahahha"

The moment he finished his sentence, the stick tapped on the black hat and instantly, a white pigeon which couldn't be more normal came out of the hat.

The pigeon landed on the Joker's shoulder and as it did, the wound caused by the Grim Reaper was healed in a split second, even the ripped clothes were recovered as if they were brand new.

This was not the end of the pigeon's role, the Joker put the hat on his head and took a funny posture as he waited for the Grim Reaper's broken and decayed sword to hit him.

The Grim Reaper may be slower than the Joker but a huge margin but his speed could be considered terrifying compared to his foes, it's just that the Joker had a speed that exceeded all limits.

When it was a short distance away from the Joker, the Grim Reaper did a grabbing motion and used its Gravitational Laws. An invisible yet strong grabbing force pushed the Joker closer to the Reaper, which stabbed its sword straight at the Joker's heart.

As he was pushed straight toward the incoming danger, the Joker raised the stick that came out with the hat and tapped the Void just before he was going to be stabbed by the sword.

That tap seemed simple but a sword exactly similar to the one the Grim Reaper was using instantly appeared in the Joker's hand and replaced the stick.

Using the newly acquired sword, the Joker stabbed the Grim Reaper in the same way it was done to him and the two decayed swords struck each other.

"Do you really think you Magic can mimic something Death personally created?"

As it was saying that, the Grim Reaper's decayed sword easily shattered the copy created by the Joker and directly stabbed the Joker's heart. No resistance was met as the decayed sword penetrated the Joker.

Still smirking despite being hit, the Joker's other free hand which was hidden behind his back was lifted. The hand was holding yet another card.

"5♣ Cape of Deception"

A white cape appeared on the Joker's back, it flapped by itself and created rainbow light that covered the Joker and the Grim Reaper.

The pigeon that was standing on the Joker's shoulder suddenly disappeared but so was the decayed sword. Both of them disappeared and in just a second, the two switched places, the Joker immediately grabbed the sword and slashed at the Grim Reaper, which was now holding the pigeon.

The pigeon tried to break free of the creepy hand of the Grim Reaper but it couldn't and was instantly killed by the strong grip of the enemy.

Seeing the decayed sword being slashed at it, the Reaper was alerted, it used Gravitational Laws to push itself away from the Joker but just as it used the special laws, the white cape of the Joker flapped again and the same rainbow lights circled around both of them, making the Reaper unable to execute his laws.

Unable to avoid the decayed sword, the Grim Reaper stretched its hand toward the Joker's new wound created by the swords stabs. Clearly, the Reaper was prepared to trade a wound for a wound since it couldn't avoid the sword.

"Hahahaha!"

The Joker ignored the stretched hand and slashed at the Grim Reaper, cutting its whole left arm. The sword was met with no resistance as it cleanly and easily cut the supposedly hard black bones of the Reaper. As for the Reaper itself, its hand dived through the Joker's flesh and attempted to grab his heart bit it found nothing.

"Hahahah, I can switch your weapon with my lovely pigeon, what makes you think I can't change the position of my heart? Hahahahaha"

Despite not being able to successfully grab his heart, the Grim Reaper's hand still did significant damage as a withering aura dived deep into the Joker's lungs and created a gaping hole in his chest. Blood came out of his lips as he was pushed back.

One left an arm and the other was internally injured yet the Joker didn't show any signs of anger or rage, he was still smirking even with an injury like that.

"You entertain me everytime we meet, always with a new thing, Hahahahahaha"

The white cape and the hat disappeared as the Joker lifted his hand which was holding a card but this time, the card contained the image of a Joker...

Chapter end