Once Human, Now a Parasite 159 Chapter 156 : Final Preparations

A strange occurrence yet he didn't fret about it, it was not that coincidental, especially when it started happening after telling the ARK to fix the problem.

The sound was getting louder and louder and after only half a minute, it became almost unbearable, even his superior stats were not negating the numbing feeling he was experiencing.

Then, drastically, the sound disappeared instantly, in place of slowly dissipating, it just vanished, he could hear or see nothing in such a place, his view was covered by white except a small rotating cube not far from him.

....

By the time Arthur opened his eyes, he was relieved to see that his body was still intact and the absence of the agonizing pain. He stared at the sky, which was still jet black with countless stars, some were bright and others could barely be seen.

Feeling his body full of vigor and life, Arthur exhaled a long sigh and thought back to what the ARK said

*Operation: 100% success. Restricting physicals seals were put on the user 'Arthur'. The physical body has evolved to the God Realm. Mismatch with the Mental Real=> forceful restriction. It is unadvised to break the physical seals or the user 'Arthur' will experience an overdrive and die 17.4 seconds later.*

He asked a few questions but he didn't get the answers he expected, which was unfortunate but at least the urgent crisis was solved.

The most important thing he needs to remember is that to break the seals, he needs to match his body Real with his Mental Realm and that is only the minimum requirement. He had a small guess that this accident happened due to the overwhelming stats numbers, however, when he asked the ARK about that, he was met with an incomprehensible answer that he would rather not remember.

A few seconds passed and when he completely grasped control of his body again, he felt a certain heat coming out of his Dantian but was what more astonishing is the existence of chains. Not illusory chains but literal ones, two thick chains restraining his hands and feet, as if he was a death-sentenced criminal. There was also a thick metal wrapped around his abdomen, covering almost the half of it. Surprisingly, it appeared under his clothes but his hopes were crushed when he tried getting up and heard the unpleasant sound of chains crackling and feeling the restriction of his feet and hands.

Basically, he can't free his hands, he can't get them away from each other, same as the feet, if he wore orange clothes, he would be regarded as a prisoner on Earth.

Arthur tried exerting some strength into his hands and try to distance them from each other again but to no avail, nothing happened. For a moment, Arthur stood there, dazing and not knowing what to do. Obviously, with those chains, he would literally be unable to fight properly, especially for close-range.

He can't even perform a normal kick or punch. Heck! Even wielding Makaze would be hard this way. If not for witnessing his status window in front of him and showing the high stats, he would believe that he became a weak mortal by no means to defend himself, a helpless mortal!

'How am I supposed to fight like this?'

The chains around his feet were a bit loose so he can walk but running is not an option which made him more irritated. Arthur was not something to fess about things for a lot of time so he calmed down after some time and teleported back to his room.

With these chains, albeit keeping his stats, fighting close-range would be disadvantageous, so he has to rely only on his long-range magic attack and only uses Makaze and such if the enemy manages to come closer.

He tried possessing a few Humanoid corpses but the chains never disappeared, what's worse is that the chains still existed if he used another beast's body. If the beast doesn't have feet or hands, then it'll be wrapped around its body.

It gave him quite the headache to even think about the upcoming fights but he shrugged these thoughts off and sat cross-legged on the bed, meditating.

It may not be very effective in raising his strength, but it's an extremely useful skill for calming the mind and entering a serene-line state. Plus, he would rather meditate rather than sleeping as without Lucy's presence, he'll only suffer from more loneliness and possible nightmares.

...

The night passed in the blink of an eye and Arthur only opened his when he heard the knocking on the door. It took but a split second to sense who's behind the door. He was not in the mood to talk toe head maid, who always had something to say about him, nonetheless, he opened the door and let the silver-haired woman enter.

Seeing her figure, his focused landed on the hair which was a lot similar to Lucy, however, that only made him reminisce about his times with her. Shaking his head to get rid of these thoughts, he gestured for Taliya to enter.

...

Taliya wore a startled expression when she noticed the chains around his feet, the ones on his hands were covered by the clothes by the one below were quite thick and with only a simple movement such as raising his hands, the crackling could be heard.

After a moment of surprise, she shifted her focus to the deadpan faced Arthur and started speaking without further delay.

"..."

Her mouth opened but no words came out, she seemed to hesitate then she shut her mouth and stood there, silent and motionless like a log. The atmosphere obviously became awkward with him sitting on the bed and her standing there and staring at him.

"What?"

Unable to comprehend such strange behavior, Arthur looked at her and furrowed his brows, seemingly confused as he thought she's going to tell him to search for Alina or demand something.

A few seconds passed and the hesitating Taliya finally uttered something.

"I,I come here to fulfill my duty, since the deal has been done. I'm required to follow you everywhere, right?"

"Yes, but I didn't find your niece yet."

Whilst shaking her head and showing a resolute face, the maid retorted

"You started doing your end of the deal and even dived into the Human Emperor's mansion, it is natural for me to begin upholding my promise too."

Looking at her expression and tone, Arthur began to question himself and the reason he even chose her. It's not like he hated her but she was just too serious, nonetheless, he isn't going to refuse something like this, especially in such a dire time.

"Nevertheless, following me as a companion doesn't mean following me to my room. I meant that we'll be comrades."

Taliya, as if she reviewed a certain script a hundred times, replied instantly again, without stopping to think or anything.

"No, that is not what I heard when you were speaking with the Demon Lord. It was clearly stated that she'll give 'me' to you."

"As far as I remember, the deal was made NOT when the Demon Lord was present BUT when you came to the cave underground."

Taliya was just going to retort again but she was cut off as Arthur added

"Furthermore, I'm not looking for a slave or a dog who follows me wherever I go, I just need some company until I achieve my goals, then you'll be able to return to the Demon Lord or do whatever you w"

Just as he was going to finish his sentence, Arthur received a signal from the Death Golem, which he left to guard the encircled cave in case the hideous creature teleported back to the same place.

Arthur didn't hesitate as he summoned the Dark Cloud and jumped on it, ready to depart to the Demon Continent immediately. Taliya, on the other hand, was startled by his sudden actions and only reacted when he turned to look at her, clearly expecting her to hop on too.

...

With a Dark Barrier around the black flying nebula, the two of them passed mountains and rivers in seconds and bypassed many farms, cities, and villages. Everything around them was blurring and Taliya was flabbergasted as this traveling speed was considerably faster than last time.

Arthur was thinking about the situation inside the cave, he already put a cage made of thorny poisonous plants and with the Death Golem's defense, it shouldn't be hard to apprehend the monster, as it is only at the Spirit Realm. But there is always the chance of something unexpected happening.

Arthur put all his efforts into traveling faster to not miss this opportunity. He could still sacrifice his Mental Power to gain more Agility, which will lead the Dark Cloud to travel faster, however, the cost was Mental Power! That is not something easily gained if we exclude the ARK of course.

Furthermore, there is the chance that the rewards of the ARK won't give him any Mental Power, and with the absence of Nether Energy, he wouldn't be able to regain the lost Mental Power Possessing countless corpses may lead to increasing the Mental Power, but the amount increased would be too meager and not worth the time but it's not like Arthur will reject any free corpse that is left unpossessed.

The two remained silent but curiosity got the best of Taliya and after glancing at the chains several times, she could not hold back and asked

"What is the deal with those chains?"

Arthur, who was pondering in thought and spreading his sense as far as he could, heard Taliya talk and only know did his mind focus back on her.

He raised both his hands, making the chains crackle then he replied with a smirk.

"Ah, those? They are just a countermeasure, you can ignore them."

Taliya didn't speak another word but she was still feeling curious. She wasn't totally convinced by what he said.

'Countermeasure? For what? And didn't you say we were comrades? Comrades should be honest with each other.....'

She didn't dare voice out her thoughts for some unknown reasons, however, she didn't follow him out of her own free will, she just had to follow the deal as after seeing how he went to the royal mansion, she had to act too or else it would look like she's just using him for her own benefit and she wasn't that kind of petty person.

.....

No conversation occurred for the rest of the trip and within six hours, Arthur and Taliya arrived in the city. Without delaying any second, both of them dived underground and appeared in the underground cave in a short time.

The place was still as eery and gloomy as before, the plant walls around the Death Golem were still intact but just as he entered the cave, Arthur was dumbstruck as the small signal between him and the golem suddenly disappeared.

[Faster Than Death] was used and Arthur's black figure appeared next to the tall wall made of thorny plants. Abiding by his will, a small gap was opened in the wall, it was barely enough for him to pass.

The first thing that his eyes laid upon was a tall hideous figure holding a suspicious orb and panting heavily some distance away. With the help of his Sense, Arthur was easily able to discover another presence which was invisible and dashing straight at him, or more precisely, it was trying to pass through the gap that was closing behind him.

Unfortunately for this invisible presence, a thick green thorn was suddenly erected from the wall on its right side, instantly penetrating its body and forcing it out of its invisibility. Upon a closer look, the creature looked similar to the hideous one a distance away. It was not literally the same appearance but they resembled each other, more or less.

They were probably from the same Race, or so thought Arthur. The one who was pinned down by the thorn wailed in agony as a lethal poison invaded its organs and slowly killed him.

No matter how sneaky and fast its skills were, it was just at the middle stages of the Spirit Realm and Arthur was way stronger than him.

'They must've thought that the wall of plants was harmless, heh!'Arthur was joyful as he saw the orb in the creature's hands, it was the same one that it used last time for teleportation.

"Who are-" Before it could finish its sentence, Arthur teleported in front of the creature and used his chained hand to grip the creature's neck and crash its body on the wall of plants.

Then, almost harmoniously, the plants wrapped around its four limbs and waist, completely binding the hideous looking creature. The only thing it could do right now was either speaking, breathing or just staring fearfully at the gray-haired man in front of it.

There was a blue bruise on its neck, from the force impact done by Arthur and its eyes showed fear, especially when Arthur's cold piercing eyes landed on it, it felt its body turn cold and a shiver down its spines.

It didn't take a genius to know that it was going to die soon, just like its comrade. After confirming with his sense that no extra presence was hiding and that the monster was fully bound, he willed the wall made of plants to dissolve, which it did.

Slowly, the sphere cage made of plants started descending and melting with the ground and within seconds, it all disappeared except the part where the hideous creature was.

Arthur did not want to underestimate his enemy, especially when he knew nothing about this thing in front of him so he injected paralyzing poison into its blood veins, making it completely unable to lift a finger.

Since his Wisdom was soaring high in the hundred million, his control over the several magic skills is also flawless, it was no problem for him to make the monster bound from neck to toe whilst still maintaining its ability to move its mouth and talk.

As the monster laid in front of his eyes, Arthur could have a closer look at his appearance and the details. The face looked a bit similar to an orc, or a pig? A row of ugly teeth, a pointy nose exactly similar to a pig's and ears that had no difference to a human.

It had large eyes, which would terrify any kid and the most striking point was its skin, this one had a green-ish skin as for the other one which died not too long ago, it had purple skin.

"What's this?" Taliya maintained a straight face as she walked towards Arthur and stared at the bound monster with a surprised and curious look.

She didn't seem to be afraid of it, at least not as much as she felt afraid of Bucama. This monster and the ones from Bucama's race were both horrors but there was something about Bucama's Race that made Arthur feel uncomfortable, as if.. they were born from pure evil and nothing else and later, this was confirmed when he saw their horrible and nightmarish means and the way they laughed and danced when they were torturing the Humans.

Even Arthur, who experienced a tragedy after another, could not forget that scene, especially the one inside the castle.

"That is something I want to know too." Arthur held the mysterious orb that he took from the monster in his hands and appraised it.

Warp Devise: The user can open it and close it at will with a cooldown of five minutes between every opening or closing. Can only warp three users at most, and between two specific locations which cannot be changed unless this item is upgraded.

Requires: Mingal Ore (10 Kg for each use).

As he read the appraisal multiple times, Arthur understood its function, although he didn't know how the process was, at least knowing how to use it is enough, for now.

What's left is this Mingal Ore, he never heard of such Ore and if it existed in his storage ring, he would have remembered, after all, with his photographic memory along with the sky-high intelligence, there is no way he can forget anything he read or saw.

It's just that all the information has been put in the back of his mind and would only resurface when he tries to remember a specific thing, such as a name for a material or a weapon.

"Who are y,you?"

Not bearing the silence, the creature finally talked, it knew that it's the final day of its life yet it didn't want to die a miserable death like its comrade. If there is a way out, then why not take it? It didn't hold any special loyalty to its tribe and if not for fear of the leader, it wouldn't have come to such a dangerous place.

It knew that invading a foreign world without further inspection and planning things without fully knowing the situation is a dumb move and it tried to tell its thoughts to its superior but to no avail.

However, their ignorance will bite them at last, when people with this man's caliber strike back and annihilate its tribe.

Its name was Gutcha, a warrior, a spy and a scout for its clan and has been since as far it could remember.

Arthur heard the prisoner's voice so he looked back at it, only to make it shrink back and not dare to look at him anymore.

"I think you're not in a place to ask questions, right?"

"Let me handle the questioning, I'm quite good at getting answers from stubborn people."

Taliya took a small silver dagger and advanced toward the monster but she was soon stopped by Arthur, who was honestly surprised by her actions.

'The prisoner didn't show any stubbornness or anything similar, the interrogation didn't even start yet she jumped to conclusions and wants to begin the torture? 'I pity all the prisoners she interrogated, really...'.While shaking his head, Arthur tightened the bound around the creature and asked

"What's this?"

He pointed at the orb in his hands and looked at the hideous creature with an expectant look.

He liked cooperative prisoners and if he's really telling the truth then he wouldn't mind letting it live. Obviously, he wouldn't set it free but any prisoner would feel grateful if his life was spared, no matter what it had to do, it's better than death as no one is unafraid of dying.

Even he, when he was told that he has to die to begin a new life, hesitated for a split second but the torture and the mental break led to him committing suicide.

"W-wait! Please wait! I know that. It's a warp device!! I can even tell you how to use it."

Hearing a positive answer, Arthur's mood increased by a bit, having an enemy life this every once in a while is not a bad thing.

If Gutcha continued being honest, then obtaining some information about this creature's world, its forces and such would be beneficial for Arthur, who was planning on heading there.

"What's your name?"

"I-It's G..Gutcha."

Gutcha didn't hold back at all, no matter what Arthur asked or was planning to ask, he was willing to reply honestly.

Although the other party didn't particularly say that he'll let it live if he was honest, but it's better than keeping its mouth shut and suffering from torture and then dying in a dark and gloomy room.

What gave Gutcha the chills was the woman beside Arthur, she was staring at it with a piercing cold look and it made the prisoner feel more frightened, its voice couldn't help but become shaky.

"Alright Gutcha, how come you can speak our language."

"W-we captured a few people from t...this world and made them teach us the basic and most common language."

Gutcha felt a tap on its shoulder and that made its heartbeat fiercely as if it was at death's door but in the end, it was just Arthur who tapped on its shoulder to encourage it in answering the remaining questions with the same amount of truthfulness.

"What about your world, where you came from, tell me more about it. The more details, the better."

Arthur grinned as he looked at Gutcha, which didn't hesitate and spit out everything it knows.

"I don't know everything about my hometown. My tribe is called the Pigolo and we are one of many other tribes. I didn't venture far from my tribe's territory as it's forbidden unless you're a scout and I don't like being one unless it's f-forced."

I know that we're only a part of our world as our ancestor often said that beyond the wall of flames, there is a fertile land that is like a Holy Ground but no tribe managed to overcome it."

Arthur attentively listened to the explanation and didn't miss anything.

'It seems that this wall of flames it like a barrier? Or maybe it's a seal separating them from the outside world? Nevertheless, it's worth the try.'

---

The thing with interrogation is that you can never be sure the other party is always saying the truth unless you have a lie detector skill or something remotely similar. Unfortunately, Arthur doesn't have such skills, however, he has high Dexterity and that leads to having a superhuman hearing capacity, almost to the point of hearing Gutcha's heartbeat.

It's obvious that his(Gutcha) heartbeat would be fast as he was in a dangerous situation, plus he was afraid of dying and receiving Taliya's torture.

But, there were many odd occasions where the prisoner would have a calmly beating heart, or there will be slight change whenever he or she tells a lie. It requires a very close attention to the heartbeat to notice these changes, nevertheless, it is possible.

Arthur relied on his superhuman hearing and Gutcha's expression to judge whether he was hearing all the truth or it was just 50/50.

"You said you kidnapped people to teach you the language. How many did you kidnap, from where and when exactly, I want to know all about that."

Taliya, who was focused on Gutcha, frowned and seemed to realize something. If Alina, Sonia and Mary's disappearances had to do with these, then there is a high chance that she'll find her niece sooner than she expected.

Gutcha didn't pause, he didn't even want to anger or displease Arthur or he will let Taliya have her way with him so he wracked his brain and spit everything he knew about the kidnapping operation.

"W-we kidnapped a hundred person. T,The locations were random and we would not wander far from the place we warped into as to not attract attention."

"Tell me everything about the kidnapped people, their name, age, appearance..."

Every question answered would lead to another being asked, this continued for another thirty minutes before Arthur finally stopped. Gutcha was panting as his mouth was dry and his body totally numb, even this kind of interrogation felt a bit like torture with his body bound and paralyzed and him forced to answer over and over again.

What's relieving though, is that he answered everything with all honesty, he wasn't particularly close or attached to his tribe, his life was way more important than a couple of information that they'll know sooner or later.

...

Out of the hundred people kidnapped, thirty-six were uncooperative and were killed on the spot, as for the rest, they were still held in a prison under the tribe's main Hall.

The sixty-four remaining hostages were apparently from various races and Gutcha couldn't remember their appearance or name quite well but when Taliya barged in and stretched her hand and rubbed the dagger's smooth and sharp edge over his neck, the hideous monster pleaded for another chance and then closed his eyes for a minute or so, trying to remember some faces.

Presuming what he said was true, there were two individuals that stood up from all the others. The first, when she was mentioned, the dagger that was next to Gutcha's neck, uncontrollably shook as Taliya was startled by what she heard.

The person that was described resembled the so-called Alina, a young girl with long silver hair, a calm temper but the most outstanding thing is that many people from Gutcha's tribe treated friendly due to her cooperative and kind attitude. Not only that, she also used her Healing Magic to cure some injured warriors.

As for the second person, it was a young man, he apparently was kidnapped in the West of the Human Continent and his eccentric behavior along with high always smiling face is what made Gutcha remember him.

He wasn't sure but it was rumored that he was tortured multiple times because he mocked the tribe warriors but that torture didn't even make him flinch, the smile never left his face.

'Right now, he must be locked in the furthest room in the prison.' or so said Gutcha.

None of that matters if they cannot go there, but simply teleporting there using the Warp Device is a dumb idea. From Gutcha's description, there were a lot of warriors stronger than him and they didn't know about the concept of Spirit Realm and such, they gauged their strength using a stone that showed a specific color.

Going to an unknown land with this much information didn't seem right and if it's really a big world, then he isn't planning to return soon, he needs a way to go to Earth and check if Lucy is really there. What about Saly and the rest, did they teleport to the same location? So many questions that need to be answered and the only way for that to happen is to go to Earth!

Furthermore, the Death Golem was sent to the location where all the warriors that were coming back from Astria appear on, so currently, many warriors must be uniting to defeat the Death Golem.

Simply going there when all their forces are on high alert would be foolish.

"We need to go there immediately, the princess is in grave danger!"

Taliya protested and snapped at Arthur, bugging him to go there immediately. He tried explaining the situation but she didn't listen. She even proposed going alone to scout things and assure that he can come but it'll only be a suicidal attempt. With her strength, there is no way she'll survive, even a Heavenly Realm is unlikely to survive if there is a batch of Spirit Realm people ganging up on him.

She kept glancing at the orb in his hands but she knew that she can't snatch it from him, it's an impossible task. With a final piercing glare, Taliya turned around and headed to Gutcha to release her frustration.

Fortunately for him, he didn't suffer brutal torture but he was still punched a few times in his stomach, which he couldn't feel at all due to the poison.

As for Arthur, he pondered about what to do right now, it's either go or not go. For now, he needs to finish the preparation for his sect then he'll go there, but knowing Taliya's character, she's won't let him go alone which will complicate things. If he could alone, then just possessing the dead comrade of Gutcha would be enough to fool the rest of the tribe but if she came then that's another whole deal.

And to add more oil to the fire, there was the problem of the chains which are hindering his combat abilities and making things a bit more troublesome. He could hide them under clothes but they would still produce the crackling noise, that is if we exclude how much they limit his movements and making him absolutely unable to do a punch or a kick, or even wield Makaze, which is one of his strongest weapons and even a simple slash with the black katana is enough to injure a Divine Realm or even a God.

...

The very next day, early in the morning, Arthur headed back to the MoonStar sect after informing Taliya to guard Gutcha and prepare herself before they depart, exactly six days later.

As he was riding the Dark Cloud toward the South-West, Arthur waved his hand, making blue lightning condense at a rapid pace in front of him until Astrith's figure appeared before him.

The lightning wolf was as domineering and big as ever, with two red eyes and wide back, its appearance is becoming more and more ferocious.

Having a spiritual link with the lightning wolf, Arthur was finally able to summon it back a few days ago but he refrained from doing so unless he needs him as the wolf seemed to be evolving.

In fact, he didn't want to disturb him right now but this matter was urgent and it needs to be taken care of. Arthur laid a map in front of Astrith and pinpointed six locations all over Astria.

"Look around these places, if you find any creature similar to Gutcha, capture them and kill if they resist."

Anymore kidnapping would be troublesome, they could also be building outposts or underground caves, which is a no-no, especially when Arthur is planning on uniting Astria.

Astrith bowed his large head a bit and replied

"This one obeys."

Without delaying any further, the lightning wolf transformed into a blue streak that vanished into the horizon in just a few seconds. Although he was weaker than Arthur, his strength increased with his master's so Astrith could be considered quite strong.

What's strange is that evolving state, it's like a slumber and it started the second he returned to Astria. He refrained from summoning him against Bucama and the rest due to this, maybe if he was interrupted, a backlash would happen.

This state seemed to be reaching its final state, so Arthur decided to give the wolf one final mission before the real revolution begins.

...

The journey back the sect was smooth and fast, once he was there, Arthur started clearing things again and laying what's needed.

He called for Anastassia and Jackob to the meeting room at the top of the tower and when they were all gathered, he retrieved three objects from his storage.

As he laid the three small objects on the table, the tall Jackob was excited to see something new. Since he got 'Ace', he didn't stop using it for hunting. What's good about it is that the bullets are self-conjured if you inject a bit of Mana, the cost is too small to the point that it can be ignored.

The efficiency, power and precision of this sniper rifle pleased Jackob a lot, so he was looking forward to the next thing Arthur is going to introduce to him.

"Boss, what's this!"

Even Anastassia looked curiously at the three objects, she was acknowledgeable enough yet she never saw such things.

"These are called bombs, grenades. They are something I can mass produce but they must only be used in urgent situations."

While stretching his hand and grabbing a sphering green grenade, he explained

"Just pull this metallic trigger and throw this to a specific target and it'll automatically explode after five seconds. It's quite simple but if someone is not careful, they can be injured by the aftermath of the explosion so don't throw it randomly."

"Isn't it like a fireball."

Anastassia was not that impressed, in contrary to Jackob, who wanted to snatch the grenade from Arthur's hand and try it immediately. As for the vice-sect leader, she was more curious about the chains around Arthur, the way he moves his two hands in sync and the crackling couldn't be ignored.

"If someone has high intelligence, producing a fireball stronger than the explosion of the grenades is possible. But that requires strength and an experienced mage, as for this, even a kid can use it, it doesn't require Mana nor Qi."

He soon put down the grenade and grabbed the gray cylindric object and said

"This is also similar to the grenade but they are used as traps. Covered by dirt and put in places that are likely to be stepped on by enemies, it'll explode the moment a small pressure is put on them, their damage is considerably higher than the former grenade."

Arthur then grabbed the last object, which was black, circular and a bit lengthy in size. It had a metal trigger just like the grenade and had some strange symbols that Jackob couldn't understand engraved on it.

"As for this, it's flash grenades and the most important one of those in my opinion. As for its use, I'll just demonstrate it."

As he finished his sentence, Arthur just pulled the metal trigger and let the bomb roll on the wide table. Of course, he didn't forget to close his eyes and smirk.

Anastassia instinctively activated her defensive technique, as for Jackob, he just eagerly stared at the flash grenade with wide open eyes, full of excitement.

----

After only a few seconds, a low voice was heard followed by a numbing sound ringing in Anastassia and Jackob's ears. Especially the latter, who was so close to the flash bomb, what followed a total blindness covering their eyes. The ringing and the blindness brought dizziness but what was more surprising is their absence of vision. All they saw was white everywhere this lasted for a whopping thirty seconds before the two of them could see again.

Jackob regained his vision after Anastassia but that's due to being so close to the impact. Arthur smirk became wider as he saw their dumbfounded expressions. This could be a revolutionary weapon if it could be mass-produced. No enemy would expect such a thing, which will lead to them not closing their eyes and that will cause their death.

In a fight between Spirit Realm and above, a second can change everything, so thirty or so seconds can allow the user of the flash grenade to either escape or cut his opponent to countless pieces without suffering from retaliation.

"T-this is..."

Anastassia stretched her hand and held the black object, she inspected it several times but she could not sense any Mana or Qi and that startled her even more.

"You can mass-produce this?"

Her voice had some excitement in it. As a former clan master and a powerful leader, the thing she yearned for the most is a safe place for her clan disciples and family to stay in. Such useful weapons can give them a humongous advantage if the enemy ever attacks. Even a Deity Realm would suffer from such a grenade if it's stacked of course.

Last time, Arthur used thousands of flash grenade to blind the present Gods at the Grand Banquet, although the cost was high, it nevertheless was useful and managed to win him some precious time.

"If I have enough time, I should be able to produce a fair amount."

Without beating around the bush, Anastassia held the flash grenade and stared at back at him while adding

"How many?"

"I'm going to leave in five days, so I'll probably manage to create around one thousand three hundred and sixty, and if I had the current ones I have, then it'll be two thousand five hundred. That should be enough, right?"

To be honest, such an enormous amount is more than enough to last for a long time. Unlike him, who fights random enemies left and right, they are a sect and besides competing with outside forces, they won't be needing that. Moreover, such objects should be used only by strong individuals as they cannot give every person flash grenades until they can be mass-produced at a faster rate and the most important fact is that they have to be used only in an emergency situation. Flat out using them at the beginning of the battle is a foolish move and any person who wants to do that should not be given such a precious weapon.

Anastassia nodded her head enthusiastically and Jackob just stared at the flash grenade with wide eyes and half-opened mouth.

The rest of the meeting was just talk about procedures and what should and should not be done. Anastassia was given all the grenades for fear of Jackob using them all just to satisfy his curiosity.

He is no doubt a trusted leader but he isn't a match for Anastassia. She really is good at handling sect-related affairs and on the course of one and a half years, she took care of the sect quite well.

....

Arthur retired to his room at noon and took out the best furnace he had in his storage and some tools and then proceeded in creating a weapon. He was going to use his advanced blacksmithing skills along with all the useful other skills to forge a weapon for Anastassia and Jackob. It's true that he gave them high-leveled weapons not too long ago but he decided to personally craft them weapons to match their skills and needs.

With his Ancient Flames, raising the temperature to a high-degree was no problem, adding that to his swift and precise hand-skills, blacksmithing skills, and forging skills, the process was done quite smoothly.

First, he took out two kinds of metal, one is called [Substitue High Metal] and the second is a rare hard ore also known as [Meteoric Iron].

Substitute High Metal: (Spirit 2nd Grade): A special Metal that changes by the will of the user, it can transform to the desired attribute willed by the user.

Quality: High

Meteoric Iron: (Spirit 1st Grade): A metal that is much stronger than regular iron and often has magical properties as well.

Quality: High

Although they were not the best materials he had in his storage, he was certain that they would match with Anastassia, with his skills, it wouldn't be difficult to create a perfect weapon even reaching the Heavenly Rank with weak materials.

Arthur put the two metal into the melting furnace which burned with an intense heat that none with sufficient Fire Resistance could sustain. Usually, the crafter has to wait for the materials and melt in liquid but this process happened in merely one minute for Arthur, who used his flames to personally melt them with the help of the Furnace, which facilitated this step.

Very soon, an orange liquid came out of the furnace and laid on a metal table in front of Arthur, who began doing the next step. Since he was going to begin by crafting a two-handed axe, he had to make it big enough for Jackob and easily wielded.

With a bronze rusty hammer, Arthur hammered the orange liquid which was transforming into a hard material. He shaped the axe with two sharp edges and each strike was strong enough to achieve the desired state. With a Strength like his, he didn't need to hammer it thousands of times like any normal blacksmith but albeit that, he kept hammering for an hour as it is the heart of the forging, it could be considered the most important factor of making a perfect weapon.

At the end of the hour, the shape of the axe could be seen but this was but the beginning. Arthur then started heating the axe again and when it was hot enough, he allowed it to cool down slowly whilst he sat cross-legged on the bed and started meditating.

The annealing process takes twenty-four hours and there is no need to rush so Arthur breathed periodically and calmed his mind as he absorbed Mana from the surroundings to replenish himself and relax.

After silently meditating for a few hours, Arthur finally opened his eyes and stared at the chains binding all his body. Every time he felt the cold sensation around his hands or waist, he would just sigh. It's so unpractical to fight like this and he was still hesitating on whether to go to Gutcha's world or not.

He should not have any problem fighting a peak Divine Realm even with the chains, but if it's a God then it'll be a tricky situation. Normally, the completed Heavenly Arrow will certainly erase a God from existence, even a miniature version of the arrow can heavily injure a God but just as it can hit a God, it can be evaded or blocked as its power is not that strong compared to the original, especially if it's not created using Void Magic.

Up to now, he can create Heavenly Arrows made from Lightning, Void and Fire with a bit of Dark Magic. The main structure of the arrow has to be either Void or Lightning, anything else would make it self-explode. As for Rizaki or Rinotsu, its potential is incredible but it is self-harming.

Fortunately his recovery is incredible as he healed from all the injuries of the spatial tears in just five full days. But the matter of those creepy and ugly monsters still couldn't leave his mind. Sooner or later, he's bound to face them if he travels around. Something about Bucama gave him the creeps, he wasn't a fearful person but it's like meeting a natural archenemy, an abnormality that should be erased from this world.

It's good that he got rid of them before they invaded Astria or else it would have been catastrophic but for that four-armed monstrosity to survive the spatial tears with just being at the peak of the Divine Realm, how is that possible?

Arthur barely survived but it's only after sacrificing one precious corpse and using forbidden Mental Power costing skills to escape, however, that didn't apply for the monster.

'That horn.... Makaze couldn't even scratch it. there was also that red light back then....'

For now, Arthur put that at the back of his mind and raised both of his chained hands. In just a second, a small plant sprouted from his palm and started growing until it was twenty inches tall.

Arthur opened his mouth and spit a purple liquid which fell on the plant and started melting it and resulted in a steam with the same color to appear.

'Not much resistant to poison....'

He would always experiment with his Plant Magic as it is not as useless at it sounds. Its efficiency is boundless and its usefulness is endless. Whether its paralyzing or lethal poisons, plant cages or strengthening plants, he could grow them all and with the help of the Nature Attribute, it's way easier but their power, for now, is still weak for some reason.

It's weak in Arthur's opinion as he always compared his things with an attack from Gods and no less. If he used all his Intelligence in launching an attack using Wind or even Earth Attribute, although he doesn't specialize in them, the attack can be quite powerful and may even hurt a Divine Realm but it's better using low-cost and stronger attributes that wasting Mana on weak magical attacks.

Plant Magic is granted by the World Tree, an existence that the so-called angels venerated and searched for all over their universe, it's not something that should be underestimated, however, its use is not easy too.

Arthur's main purpose is to try and merge it with another attribute, preferably Void but it always ends up being eaten by the bottomless purple orb that he conjured.

Fire would burn it and Lightning would do nothing, so all that was left was Dark Magic.

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

To the far East of Astria, specifically on the North-East of the Itas Continent. There was high mountain surrounded by a dense forest but on a closer look, you could see several pagodlooking buildings and a high white tower in their center. Stretching a mile to each direction, there were some small houses, neat and ordered. This was where the headquarters of the Yan Clan was. Known to be the descendants of the White Tiger of the West and to have an extraordinary physical power along with powerful legendary techniques.

Previously, they suffered in the tournament and the explosion killed two high-elders.

Inside the sky-high white tower, at the top floor, there existed a wide Hall with golden pillars at both sides. The Grand Elder of the Clan, the Patriarch, and two other Elders were currently discussing something with a tall individual who wore a big black coat which covered almost all of his appearance.

"W-we tested the effects of the pills. T-they were beyond anything we've seen!"

The Grand Elder talked with an excited voice as he stared at the black-coated person in front of him, sitting at the other end of the circular table.

"Of course, that is to be expected from our Demon Strengthening pills... hehehe, the cost to make them is quite worth it too."

While creepily chuckling, the coated person talked with a deep and unpleasant voice.

The Patriarch was also full of smiles as he inspected the red pills in his hand, they were quite ordinary in appearance but once consumed, the user would experience a tremendous increase in all stats along and the pain immunity will have risen to its maximum.

Such pills are considered very precious yet this coated individual was willing to hand them thousands of those pills. Of course, as a Patriarch, he wasn't that stupid so he didn't accept immediately, that is why, last week, when this individual came, he asked him to stay at the clan until they thought about their offer.

In return for the pills, the black-coated person said that the Yan Clan has to provide him a constant amount of Aether Crystals each week.

Aether Crystals are a material used to recover Mana, it is similar to the Mana Potion but what's different is that it can be charged again after consuming it, it's limitless if you wait a sufficient amount of time. The Yan Clan happened to have a mine of Aether Crystals just at the foot of the mountain, so it shouldn't be too hard to provide fifty kilograms of crystals each week.

"We have tested the efficiency of the pills and discussed your offer. As long as the amount of the Aether Crystal we should provide does not increase then we accept."

Honestly, they could even provide 200 kilograms each week and still have a large amount of stock but the patriarch didn't want to be taken advantage of albeit the fact that such pills are too godly to pass on them, this is a golden opportunity.

'With such pills, the continuously growing force of the MoonStar will finally end!'

Although the two forces didn't clash directly, the influence of the MoonStar Sect has exceeded the Yan Clan, especially after it established its foothold on the deserted continent and unified all the rebellious tribe, all of that under the command of a former warrior of a tribe and Anastassia, the former leader of the Ma Clan. That is of course not enough to make the Patriarch of the Yan Clan fear the MoonStar Sect, the main reason is the flying undead dragons and the terrifying skeletal knights that exclude a cold and death aura around them.

....

When the deal was done and the black-coated person left, the Yan Clan elders began celebrating and planning what to do next, as for the mysterious individual, he took a ring which had fifty kilograms of Aether Crystals and left the territory of the Clan, promising them to come back after a week.

When he was a fair distance away from the Clan, the black-coated person took off his hood and the appearance he had was a horror to behold.

It was a monster exactly similar to the one Arthur saw in that hellish world, not a bit different. It had two arms and with two ugly eyes, a hideous face, a unique skin color and a foul stench around it, it grinned as it played with the ring in its finger while laughing maniacally.

Chapter end