Once Human, Now a Parasite 164 Chapter 160 : Curtis

Although the bars were unscathed, it won't be too long before the roof will fall on them, Taliya may not die, even Alina will only suffer minor injuries, however, the maid and Lucas were not going to let this happen.

'bang!'

Lucas was the one who acted first, he walked near the iron bars and struck them with his legs, the attack did close to no damage as the iron bars shook by a little bit. Lucas didn't flinch and continued with a violent series of kicks. As if they already agreed on this, Taliya followed him and used her sharp blades to slash at the iron bars, trying to cut them or weaken bit by bit.

Although they looked like normal iron bars, these were reinforced with a special kind of iron found in nearby mines, if Taliya was in the Spirit Realm, breaking out of them wouldn't be that much of a struggle, unlike now.

The difference but the Mortal Realm and the Spirit Realm is a big deal, after all, only by overcoming their Mortality and feeling the Energy of the world would the person be able to break free from the shackles that were holding him down.

Precise and powerful slashes landed on the iron bars, unlike Lucas, who couldn't do any damage to the bars, Taliya was slowly but surely causing these bars to weaken and tremble, the never-ending fast slashes of Taliya coupled with the big pressure the roof was exercising on the iron bars, it wouldn't be a long time before they finally fall.

Taliya fully knew that shattering the iron bars would result in the roof falling, but she was confident in being able to get Alina out of this underground room before it collapses completely, the stairs were just a couple of meters away from the cell.

Alina was standing at the back, with an anxious expression, she looked at the roof and couldn't hide her worry. She knew that her aunt will save her but the others would surely die miserably.

She sneaked a glance at the female beastmen and Sonia, but the redhaired lady was still unconscious with a pale face. Mary kept a stubborn attitude and didn't take the potion that Taliya put on the ground.

Some prisoners joined Lucas and Taliya and started banging on the iron bars with all their strength but it only resulted in them being tired and panting heavily as they didn't have a strong physic and their Stamina was bottom-low.

As they were struggling to get out of here, a whistling noise came from the other side of the room, which led to the cell where Arthur was held. The whistling noise obviously attracted the attention of the everyone, including Taliya, who had stopped her slashing.

It didn't even take a minute before the source of the whistling arrived near the iron bars, he had a calm look despite his tattered clothes and poor state. With a playful smile, he turned to look at the prisoners and casually said

"If it isn't my ex-roommates! Are you doing alright, Alina?"

He didn't seem to be bothered by the falling stones all over him, it's as if he had all the time in the world. His gaze swept everybody before it fell on the figure of the Demon Princess, Alina.

Vyncent was someone who had been imprisoned in the same cell as them but his behavior was eccentric, he was way too friendly and despite being tortured for a long time, that smile never left his face. Quite honestly, Alina used to talk a lot with him so their relationship wasn't that bad.

"ah it's Vyncent! hurry up and get us out of here, please!"

Alina was surprised and happy to see her friend, she didn't know how strong he was but she was not a fool to think he was a weakling. Just by the fact that he is standing in front of her eyes proves that he managed to escape his cell, one way or another, moreover, his cell's iron bars must've been stronger than these ones, which were on the brink of shattering with a little push.

Vyncent didn't seem to object, he nodded his head and lifted his head to look at the slowly falling roof. He put a hand on his chin, pondering for ten seconds before he shook his head and said

"It seems the situation is a bit tricky. if I cut the iron bars, you'll only have a few seconds to escape and judging by your numbers and the narrow escaping route, the outcome is easy to predict and most of you bunch will die whilst you are trying to escape together."

He stopped for a second before he lifted his hand and showed one finger

"One, that is the number of people I can save from this place."

As he said that, Vyncent's focused on Alina's expression 'Let's see what choice are you going to make, Demon Princess.'

He talked a lot with her, so he knew about her exaggerated kindness and her will to save everyone, now that she is stuck in such a desperate position, he wanted to see what choice will she make.

....

With clenched fists and a pale face, Alina stared back at Vyncent without retorting, she knew that saving everyone with only her power is impossible, even a person such as Vyncent wouldn't be able to save them unless he showed all his power. An Immortal could easily use his Nether Energy to stop the roof from falling, it's an extremely easy feat, but he wouldn't do such a thing, he didn't owe these prisoners so it's needless to sacrifice being found out just to save their pitiful lives.

"F-fine then, I want you to save my aunt!"

Alina felt guilty as her aunt came all the way from Astria just to save her yet she would die when she almost succeeded. Although Alina wanted to save the silent woman who came with Taliya too, perhaps her selfishness and her love for her aunt made her made this choice. Many people looked at her with a sad and begging expression but she ignored them all and chose her aunt, who was flabbergasted as well when she heard that.

The maid walked to the young girl, held her shoulders and said

"Alina! What are you saying! Quickly tell him to get you out of here, I'll follow right after!"

Taliya was a bit relieved as she thought the whistling was coming from Arthur, who finally decided to show up after so much time have passed, however, it was a complete stranger, nonetheless, he seemed to be friends with Alina and she could feel a strange oppressing aura emanating from him, if he's that strong, then he may be able to get her niece out of here, she was confident in being able to sustain the damage from the falling roof.

Alina resolutely stared at Vyncent, from the look on her face, anyone could guess that she wasn't going to change her choice. Vyncent's smile became a wide grin, he shrugged his shoulders and said

"Are you sure?"

In response to him, Alina nodded her head and gestured for him to hurry up as the iron bars started shaking. Seeing that her words have no effect, Taliya turned around and walked to the iron bars and resumed fiercely slashing her blades. The blades were emitting a frosty aura due to using Ice related sword skills, the aura around her intensified and the iron bars started freezing with one of them shattering the instant the blades struck it again.

"Vyncent! After all the time we passed together, you still try to maintain that stupid pride!"

Lucas wasn't happy about the presence of Vyncent, he stared at him with eyes radiating killing intent, it is as if he would leap at him through the bars and tear him to shreds.

The grinning young man chuckled as he waved his hand, binding Taliya's movements and stopped her torrent of slashes, then he nodded his head as he looked at Alina 'Indeed, I did not choose wrongly, she is perfect!'

Just as he was going to take Taliya and Alina out of the iron bars, a chill ran down Vyncent's spines and his grin disappeared. It was because of the sudden appearance of a tall black shadow in front of him. The iron bars all fell at the same time as they couldn't hold the roof anymore, the big boulders and dirty sand fell on the big crowd of prisoners, who cried desperately and covered their heads.

Five seconds passed yet none of them was hurt, just as the tall shadow appeared, the falling boulders froze mid-air and not a single grain of sand fell on the prisoners. With a slightly long grey hair and smooth white skin, a man appeared in front of Taliya and Lucas.

It was Arthur, who was using his real body, he flung the people outside far from this area and teleported inside the cell. He was going to act immediately but he chose to patiently wait for a second just to see what this Immortal young man was going to do.

Using [Eyes of the Noble Sea], Arthur was easily able to see Vyncent's Nether Energy circulate and lock on Alina the moment he appeared in this room. From the very start, he was planning on saving the princess. He said he could only save one person to see her reaction and choices and at last, he chose to save Taliya too since Alina said so.

Although it was a strange skill or technique, Arthur was able to feel the Nether Energy slowly transforming into a yellow mist of magic belonging to the Earth Attribute, it wasn't hard to guess that this young man specialized in Earth Skills. Navigating underground or getting them out of the room shouldn't be a problem for an Earth-attribute user.

Lucas stared at Arthur with a bewildered expression, the words he wanted to blurt out got stuck in his throat with the sudden appearance of Arthur, his eyes also landed on the frozen boulders mid-air, it didn't take a genius to guess who did it.

Alina had wide eyes as she lifted her head from Taliya's chest, who instantly appeared next to her and hugged her as to protect her from the falling boulders.

"ah...."

With the exception of Lissandra, who had a vacant look, all the prisoners were staring at the stranger who appeared out of nowhere.

Taliya soon followed as she turned around and saw Arthur. Before she could mutter any word, another person talked

"Arthur..... is that really you?"

The appearance of Arthur changed drastically since Mary last saw him, whether it's his left eye which would rotate between grey and red every few seconds or his long hair, he became a bit taller and the aura around him was a bit different. In the past, he would always radiate a negative cold aura, which pushed everyone from him, but now, despite the fact that the cold aura lingered, it wasn't as intense as before, and the look in his eyes didn't emit disgust when he stared back at her.

"Yes, I'm sorry I was late, I had a few things that needed to be taken care of."

No matter what she had done, Mary was Lucy's friends, and in his heart, he had already forgiven her for what she did to him and Lucy, her and Sonia's safety was his highest priority as they could be considered members of his family.

*************

As he said that, Arthur glanced at the unconscious Sonia, who was still suffering. With appraise activated, he was able to see what the debuffs were, as he previously assumed, one high-quality Healing Potion or a Medium-quality Poison Resistance will drive away the lethal liquid out of her body.

Although she was suffering, her condition was not urgent, even if he did not interfere, she would survive for a few more days. However, he wouldn't be so mean and ignore her completely, if he did that and Lucy came to know, he'll surely be glared at and ditched for at least a week.

It's kind of funny how Lucy never yells at him when she's angry, she just snorts and ignores him completely, if he tries to embrace her, she would just dodge and throw him a piercing glare, making him break with cold sweat.

Arthur paid no heed to the dumbfounded looks all the people were giving him, he walked near Sonia and fed her the Potion that was left alone earlier by Taliya, since no one came to proclaim it or touch it, it laid there on the ground for quite an amount of time.

Gently, Arthur lifted Sonia's head and used his telekinesis to drive the liquid of the potion down her throat. Its effect should be near instantaneous so Arthur didn't bother ascertaining.

Seeing the worried look Mary had on her face, Arthur gave an honest smile and said

"She should be okay, you don't need to worry. Just get ready to leave this place, it would be better if you held her."

Arthur didn't explain the reason but Mary obviously knew his character, even if it's an urgent or desperate situation, he would rather not carry a woman, much less touch her. Neither he nor Lucy would like that, what's more, Mary was not injured so she should be able to carry Sonia with her high Strength.

Now that things quietened again and silence ruled over this cold and crowded cell, Vyncent stared at Arthur's back with startled eyes, only know did he managed to react and say

"I-if it isn't my new roommate! I'm so glad to finally be able to see you again, you left so fas-"

The last word had not yet finished and was instead swallowed down by Vyncent, who received a cold glare from Arthur, it was but a glance, however, the thickness of the killing intent and the oppressing aura coming out of it was something Vyncent never expected, he couldn't help but shiver for a split second. It only took a glance for him to determine that he was not Arthur's match.

Previously, when he saw Arthur disappear from the cell and create a clone exactly like himself, Vyncent had a high impression of him and was both curious and surprised, but now, all he felt was an impulse to run away, which he didn't by the way.

He had a certain goal in mind and going back empty-handed is not a choice he can consider, not in this lifetime at least.

Arthur didn't focus on Vyncent after that, he turned to face Taliya and the Demon Princess and was about to speak again but he was interrupted by Taliya, who harrumphed and said in a reprimanding tone

"Hmpf! What took you so much time! We almost died in here!"

Although she was partially blaming his lateness, Taliya was secretly relieved, with Arthur around, there is no fear of danger as she knew that he has monstrous strength, even her big sister, the real Demon Lord, could never dream to match him, they were just in different leagues.

Shrugging his shoulders, Arthur was already used to such attitude so he didn't particularly get angry

"Some things are more important than others. Now, less talking and more walking, we need to go immediately."

Using his Immortal Strength, Arthur was able to see who was heading toward the prison, since the range of his Immortal Sense is quite big thanks to possessing thousands of beings who possessed Mental Power.

It is quite complicated to fully explain, however, Arthur's Immortal Sense is a bit unique. An Immortal, even a Peak Grade one, would have a Sense that could spread at most for five hundred meters around him, if it's stretched to only one direction, it would become 1 kilometer, it is indeed a long range.

However, Arthur can spread his sense up to 1500 meters around him and 3000 meters to one specific direction, what's odder is that Lucy, who is supposed to be weaker than him in term of stats, have a range that is more outrageous than his. Just when she was the third Grade Immortal, her Immortal Sense could spread up to 5000 meters around her and ten kilometers if she focused only in one direction.

Lucy said that it is maybe due to her special Yin Body, but Arthur thought differently, he told her that it may have a relation with her Race, the status window showed Half-Demon with the remaining half shown as '????'. No matter what it is, for her Sense be so outrageous and her talent to be top-notch even better than him, who possessed so many beasts and corpses, it's just cannot be explained with only her special body.

...

Sensing no threatening presences around the entrance of the cave, which obviously was the prison, Arthur gestured for the rest to for Mary to follow him before heading out of the room. The rest of the prisoners only stared at him with a mix of awe, fear and some curiosity, as for Taliya, albeit fuming with anger, she grabbed Alina's hand and followed closely behind Arthur. Lucas had long since snapped out of his daze, unlike the other people, he stared at Arthur's departing back with a strange look, with clenched fists and a resolute expression, he followed right after.

The big boulders were still frozen mid-air and by the time the room was empty, they finally fell down, creating loud crashing noises and making huge amounts of dust fly out of the small path leading upstairs.

A small Wind Barrier blocked the dust from disrupting their vision and like that, the group of prisoners with Arthur leading headed left the prison at last.

"aunt... who is he?"

Alina nudged her aunt's sleeve and asked with a low voice. It's unfortunate for her that Arthur's hearing is inhuman, so it seemed as if she was talking next to his hear, much less this low voice, even if it is multiplied by ten, he would still be able to hear it and not just him, even Vyncent or a Deity would have extraordinary senses.

"Actually, I don't know much about him either, a lot of things happened since were went missing. He is the Patriarch of the sect controlling the Western Continent, in comparison to your mother, his strength many time higher."

Taliya didn't hold back and told Alina everything she knew about Arthur, she wouldn't keep secrets from her niece and since they were a distance away from the crowd, only Mary was close enough to be able to hear it, but the beastmen didn't pay attention to the maid and stared at Arthur with a stunned and complicated look.

The young man, Vyncent, felt conflicted too, he was in a rather difficult dilemma as he needed to bring Alina with him, bypassing Taliya would not be hard at all, however, under Arthur's watchful gaze, especially when he knew nothing about his abilities, it would be too risky! Heck! It wouldn't be wrong to call it suicidal, with just that one glare, he knew that the other party wouldn't hesitate to kill him on the spot if he tried to do anything.

With a shiver down his spines making him feel uncomfortable, Vyncent threw some glances at Arthur but he dared not act, at least not immediately.

Speaking of the leader, Arthur walked slowly while focusing his attention on the surroundings. Approximately five hundred meters away from the group of prisoners, there were three brown-robbed figures, they were squatting near a small sand valley. They were looking at Arthur, who was leading the large group of prisoners in the middle of nowhere.

In fact, it didn't take them much time to return here, however, they were afraid of death and since the enemy was able to fling them so far without being able to retaliate, they couldn't act recklessly.

"What do we do, leader?"

One of them spoke in the Gargoyle Language, he shifted his head to the middle figure, who had a staff behind his back. As he was their leader, they had to follow his orders in such situations. Their mission was to kill as many people as possible and create havoc, this goal has been achieved thanks to their great number, but an unknown entity has shown up, they sent someone to report what happened and possibly bring reinforcement and the rest stayed to either buy some time or deal with this matter personally, if possible that is.

"That grey-haired man, I can't help but shiver every time I look at him.... we should just watch them from afar and see what they are up to, we are no match for him, much less all of them combined."

As he said that, the leader couldn't help but gulp some saliva and rub his forehead to get rid of the invisible cold sweat.

What they didn't know is that Arthur had long since caught their presences but he wasn't going to bother with them. As long as they didn't cross that boundary and stayed passive then it is fine as well.

....

Taliya told Alina about the recent events, the new rising powers such as the MoonStar Sect, what happened in her first meeting with Arthur and so on, the young girl had her mount shaped in an 'o' as she listened carefully to her aunt. The more she heard the more incredible Arthur sounded, it's like he's a living legend, to be able to control such a strong sect and even come here to save her, she felt deeply moved, however, such thankful emotions vanished when she heard that her aunt agreed to follow him once he did his end of the deal.

With a flushed face, furrowed brows and a somewhat angry looking expression, Alina snapped as she couldn't control her surging emotions and shouted

"No! You can-"

Fortunately, Taliya was fast enough to cover her mouth while seriously saying

"I'm a demon born in the Royal family, as long as you are brought to the castle safely, I will keep my promise. It's not like he asked me to die so don't cause too much trouble, Alina."

Hearing them argue, Arthur chuckled but still maintained his silence, just as he was about to tell Vyncent to go on his way since they were close to the big square, his body became numb and his movements froze.

A familiar pressure and agonizing pain struck his mind but no cries were emitted from his mouth, knowing that this event is re-occurring at this very second, Arthur didn't waste any second as he used the last bit of conscience he had left to immediately summon the Death Golem and the Book of the Damned, which simultaneously appeared next to each other, with his last breath, Arthur muttered 'Dra'lka', unfortunately, his last try was futile as he didn't enter the ARK and instead, the pressure on his mind intensified and his vision blurred before it blackened.

********

The familiar yet unpleasant feeling covered Arthur body, making his body feel numb, almost nonexistent as if he was but a wandering ghost with no physical body.

Arthur couldn't help but curse his bad luck, out of all possible times, this happened right now. Fortunately, he managed to summon the Death Golem and the Book of the Damned, which had the rotten hand to support it, with such a powerful duo, protecting them from enemies from the Divine Realm and below should not be a problem. Furthermore, although this process would last years for Arthur, only a few seconds would pass in reality. He was hoping the ARK would activate and he would be sent to the endless white space but the reality was never that fair and instead, he was soon thrown into the body of an unknown entity, observing from their vision, feeling their pain and experiencing their life.

What surprised Arthur, even more, is that the second he began sensing things around him, his vision was still blackened, however, he could hear baby cries, loud baby cries that were kind of annoying, yet accompanied with these cries, he also heard the laughter of a man and the gentle voice of a woman, who most certainly was carrying him in her embrace, as he could feel her warmth.

The baby cried for ten minutes but he quietened down, his cries became louder when the man held him but after being scolded by the woman, he could only give her back the child.

Arthur was no fool, it didn't take a genius to figure out this situation and honestly, he was not the least bit angry or depressed, in fact, he felt extremely relieved.

'At least, passing a few years in the body of a baby or a kid is better than experiencing bloody battles every day in the bear's bodies! That pain is unbearable, I can't even activate my Pain Immunity!'

Although he felt like that, he didn't hate the benefits that it brought him. It is unfortunate that he didn't know what's about to come, but for him, now at least, experiencing the life of a baby is much better than countless bear species.

The skills he got from the Bear and Eagle are not bad, especially the latter, but compared to his outrageously Godly offensive skills, they lacked a bit. Perhaps it had to do with the species, or maybe he was just underestimating them but when he tried them, they were a bit weaker than a mini Heavenly Arrow, or a bombardment of fireballs, plus, Dark Magic and the Ancient flames literally cost nothing, if he injected Mana into them, they would become stronger, but only by a little bit as they were special.

At first, Arthur was confused on why he can understand their language without possessing any one of them but he later guessed that this 'sharing bodies' thing is considered possessing too, it's just that no notification popped up to confirm his thoughts.

Three days passed and without them needing to introduce themselves, the warm and gentle voice that whispered in his ears from the morning till late at night is none other than the mother of this baby, as for the man who always laughed and lifted him up high in the air, making him feel dizzy and cry, is obviously his father.

Three days passed and an issue occurred, the parents of the baby, who was named Curtis, appeared to be nobles as albeit his inability to see, for the time being, Arthur was able to hear a fear ladies talking to the parents respectfully. They invited an old man and had him check the pulse of the baby. Arthur was unsure what's happening, but he was able to feel the withered hand of the old man touching his small hands and then his chest.

After half an hour, a sigh came out of the old man's mouth, he looked at the parents, who were looking at him attentively whilst keeping their silence, and said with sorrowful voice accompanied with a forced sad smile

"Unfortunately, the young lord has a red magic core indeed, as may have suspected."

Although he did not display it, the old man felt sad too, as it is a miracle they were able to have a child, but to expect another accident to happen to them, they were indeed hated by the gods.

Without speaking any further, the old man got up and left after giving a light apologetic bow. The woman did not utter a word, she just picked the baby and tightly hugged him, afraid of losing him, as for the man, he stood there dazed with a blank look for an unknown amount of time before his lips quivered and his eyes landed on his son, who was peacefully sleeping in his wife's hands.

He did not shout in anger, nor did he blame the unfair heavens, he just clenched his fists and calmed down then he laughed heartily whilst patting his own chest

"Hahaha so what if my child is ordinary, if he can't be a king then he'll be a general, if he can't be a general then he'll be a soldier... and if he can't be a mage then he'll become a knight!"

The woman maintained her silence, but from the look in her eyes, you could say she approved what the middle-aged man said.

Arthur didn't particularly feel any sorrow, it was not his life, nor was it his body, he was just here as a spectator, unable to do anything but watch how things proceed. In a way, it's like watching a 3d movie, but in much much more realistic way.

The worse thing that he experienced til now is feeling the hunger of the baby and the urge to relieve himself, of course, the baby did not hold back and let it all out then he would start crying loudly.

Surprisingly, however, after just one week, only a few days after the baby gained his sight although a little blurry at first, he didn't cry as much, it could be said that whenever he was with his mother, he would become docile and silent.

Curtis's mother was a beautiful lady, with blonde hair and deep blue eyes, as for his father, he was a man with short dark hair and a short beard, he looked like a man in his prime, full of vitality and energy, even early in the morning.

Arthur felt as if he wronged Lucy when the baby, Curtis would use his mother's breast to feed, although he didn't do it willingly, he still could feel it and that added to the guilt, maybe it would be better if he kept this part of his experiences to himself when he meets her else she gets angry.

The love the parents provided for Curtis is limitless, although they knew he had no talent whatsoever, they cared for him and weren't the least bit strict. Curtis grew in a warm family, filled with happiness and no mishap happened. Unknown to him, Arthur was slowly but surely merging with Curtis's body, it's as if he was the one living that life and not just spectating it.

After seven years have passed, Curtis grew from a small baby to a healthy boy, he had a blonde hair and blue eyes, just like his mother and he was extremely handsome albeit his young age.

His father, being a mage, couldn't teach him combat skills related to knights, so he hired a knight and had him teach his child. Curti didn't complain a single time, showing a resolute expression and training every day. Maybe it had to do with Arthur possessing him, his intelligence was higher than other noble kids, who would spend their time pranking maids or playing around. It is not that talented and hard working children didn't exist, but Curtis was a bit unique in a special kind of way, even his parents would secretly talk about him, they knew their child was different from others, whether it is his temperament or attitude, but they didn't bring this matter to him and still cared for him deeply.

By the time seven years have passed, Arthur's memories were in total chaos. Living a life of a Human and a beast is two different things, even for someone such as Arthur, his stats had no effect and after a certain amount of time has passed, his consciousness was slowly merging with Curtis's.

At this point of time, despite the fact that he knew he was still a spectator, something sparked inside of him, a longing and a bit of envy of Curtis, who had caring parents that Arthur never had before, a happy childhood that any orphan would yearn for every day and night.

He didn't know when it happened, but in his own way, Arthur started considering Alexa and Thordan like his own parents. Too much time has passed and unlike the experiences with the Bear and the Eagle, this life wasn't so unbearable, instead, it was filled with warmth and gentleness. Characteristics of Arthur merged with Curtis, just like some of Curtis's merged with Arthur. At the first few years, Arthur was shocked and had to admit that albeit being born without talent, this kid, Curtis, had an unbelievably serene Spirit, a calm attitude and the only time he ever cried was in the first few days he was born. This serenity was added to Arthur, making his mind calmer and more serene, no more was he angered by a simple thing, no more was he urgent in solving everything. Similar to Arthur, the chilling coldness that was always attached to Arthur, like a hidden pressure, was added to Curtis, although it was like Arthur's so obvious and overbearing, it still lingered in the young boy, who was of a few words but had an unextinguishable resolve.

Unknown to Arthur, or Curtis, inside the former's consciousness, another huge blob of light, a bit smaller than Arthur's was being dragged by the chains around Arthur's soul towards it, forcefully. The process was slow but Curtis's soul couldn't resist the power of the thick chains, which wrapped around it and dragged it near Arthur's soul in this vast starry sky. The rotating object, which was the ARK, had sent countless red beams directed at the chains, but none of them were even close to harm it or stop it, it's as if it had no effect. In just seven years, the distance between the two souls never ceased decreasing, although the distance was still large, the chains were still persistent and in sometime in the future, the two souls would soon merge, becoming a single, strong entity.

Souls are a fragile thing, just like the heart and the brain, if they are damaged then the individual will die, however, there are many exceptions. Whether it's instantaneous recovering, forbidden resurrection skills or Soul Transfer the devils use. Souls could be devoured, they also could be controlled or injured, but merging? That is something not many would dare to do. If the opposing soul was stronger then its owner will control, likewise for the other one, even if the two souls have the same exact power and with the consent of the two owners, merging is still something illogical, and that is because of one thing, balance.

*******

Balance is what makes everything stable, there cannot be darkness without light, day without night, fire without water. If anything is suddenly wiped and its opposite is left alone, the balance would be broken and only chaos and destruction will happen, although these cases are extremely rare, almost impossible to happen, however, it's 'almost' and not 'never'. Each time the balance was broken, even by a little bit, then a catastrophe will befall on that place.

Curtis's temperament never ceased changing due to the slow fusion, or perhaps due to his soul being grabbed by the chains in Arthur's consciousness. It didn't affect his Vitality or Life Energy, however, he was unusually calm, too calm to the point of being a bit scary.

Years passed and by the time the young boy became twenty years old, a loud noise rang in Arthur and Curtis's ears, almost making them deaf. The latter had blood leaking out of his ears, as for Arthur, he could only bear with it. By now, Arthur basically thought of himself as Curtis, of course, he still remembered himself but he loved his new life, felt with warmth and love. As if he was struck by lightning, Curtis writhed in the ground due to the agonizing pain torturing him, the pain coming from his soul was unimaginable, it was so extreme that he couldn't even scream.) Arthur didn't feel anything besides that loud noise, however, in his own way, he suffered too.

His vision blackened as he no longer saw through Curtis's eyes and in a split second, more than thirty years of memories flashed in his mind, forcefully snapping him out of the happy life he was spectating. He saw how he first met Lucy, the betrayal of his wife, how Lucy almost died to the 'judgment' and so on. As if a cold bucket of water was poured on him, Arthur not only snapped out of his long daze, he no longer was inside Curtis's body, instead, he was back on the desert with Taliya and the rest, however, the situation was vastly different to how he left it.

******************************************

The moment Arthur froze on the spot, Taliya and the rest were a bit startled and puzzled. After he froze for a split second, he waved his hand and instantly, a tall weird looking golem and a black book in their view. The Golem emanated a cold dark fog, with a height of a whopping five meters and a thickness of two meters, it was literally a moving fortress, a giant!

The book, which was small compared to the Golem, was ignored as all the eyes of the crowd landed on the Death Golem which abruptly turned to face the other way and stood there, motionless.

"W-what's that?"

The first to talk was the Demon Princess, who stood next to her aunt, with a mix of surprise and fear, she stared at the terrifyingly big golem, not knowing why it suddenly appeared. Obviously, she knew Arthur was the one who summoned it, however, the real question is why would he do that, and all of a sudden at that.

She diverted her attention to Arthur, only to notice that he is standing still, with a blank face and empty eyes, it's as if he was asleep.

Even Taliya, who knew Arthur's strength more than anyone present, didn't dare think that he just decided to fall asleep in such a place and time, it was too bizarre and he was not that kind of person.

She knew something wrong occurred, as for what it was, she couldn't ascertain on what it was.

'If he summoned that thing, then there must be something wrong!'

Arthur only summoned the Golem when he needed to catch the invaders when he was away from the cave, she never saw the golem fight, but just from its aura and size, it could not be underestimated.

Furthermore, there was that strange book, not everyone noticed its presences, but how could Taliya not see it? It was the book Arthur always kept on him since they came here.

Without hesitation, Taliya unsheathed her double blades and spoke in a serious tone

"Prepare to fight, defend the princess."

She was directing her speech to Lucas, who didn't retort and silently nodded before he wrote a strange sign on his hand and by the next second, a water sword was created. The water sword was ordinary, only its color was leaning toward white rather than blue.

Vyncent, who was still trying to come up with a plan was surprised as well, however, unlike the crowd, which panicked, he was a bit happy and relieved. To begin with, he wasn't that far from Alina, he sneakily got closer and stopped around five meters behind her as it was the range of his skill if he wanted to take someone with him.

'I just need to wait.'

He glanced at the blank-faced Arthur, he wasn't sure if it was a trick or not, so he had to be sure or else he would suffer greatly. He may not be able to defeat Arthur, perhaps die with only one blow, however, Vyncent had confidence in escaping alive using his [Earth Travel].

It's an advanced Earth Attribute skill, extremely hard to obtain and more difficult to train. If mastered then the user would be able to merge with the Earth and travel long distances in a matter of seconds. It's akin to teleportation, but whilst one used the Spatial Attribute, the other used the Earth Attribute, Teleportation is instantaneous and cannot be disrupted if it is a quick one, of course. Unlike the Teleportation skill, [Earth Travel] can be disrupted if the user's concentration is cut or if he is injured mid-skill. It could be said that one was absolute and the other one depended on the terrain, user and so on.

Very soon, all the people who were able to fight circled the weaker ones, it was a simple formation but it allowed them to have a vision in all directions.

The Death Golem by itself took a large portion of the formation, it laid there, silent with the dark fog still being emanated from it.

.....

A fair distance from the group of prisoners, the same brown-robbed figures were hiding behind several boulders clustered near each other. Previously, there were just a few people, however, now there were more than thirty brown-robbed figures!

Moreover, the leader of the previous four was no more, he was behind another brown-robbed figure with small red lines on its edges.

Just by looking at the previous leader, who was squatting behind him and the respectful attitude he was displaying, it was easy to guess that this Gargoyle with a unique robe has a high status.

"Sir, what do we do?"

Although he has to follow the order of his superiors. The grey-haired man gave the leader with the staff an unknown feeling as if he should never get involved with him, it just gave him the creeps and if he was in charge, he would have decided to retreat and search for another area to destroy.

Alas, it didn't well as they met with another group, far bigger in number and had a regiment commander with them. The staff-wielding Gargoyle was a rank lower, so in times of war, he had to obey his orders.

The front Gargoyle, who had a unique robe, tapped his finger on the boulder as he stared at the tall Death Golem and the motionless Arthur, after an unknown period of time, he stopped tapping his finger and resolutely said

"Charge toward the sides, I'll take care of that Golem. Uyo, you support me from behind. Kill everyone but the grey-haired man."

In response to him, the thirty plus brown-robbed Gargoyles nodded their heads and waited for his signal.

Chapter end