Once Human, Now a Parasite 24 Chapter 25 : Despair

The group of students didn't stay in the town, they immediately headed for the dungeon, it was still morning so they would arrive early to the dungeon. An hour or so, after crossing a small mountain, they arrived at the entrance of a rocky cave, there was a sign which surprised Arthur.

El Kassia dungeon entrance: recommended LVL: 40-90

He didn't expect to see a sign like this, nonetheless he shrugged it off and followed them inside the cave, truthfully there was nothing special about this dungeon, it was more like a labyrinth than a dungeon, after walking for sometime, the cave showed 2 different ways, and the deeper they went the more complicated the dungeon became. Finally, they encountered some lizard-like monsters

Salamander Lvl 67

It was a red-like lizard with some fire coming out of its tail, it didn't seem intimidating though because of its small size, but they always roamed in groups of 3 or more. Just like that, the students began training and attacking together to kill the salamanders, team-work necessary but for new students, it was quite hard for them to work together, especially for someone like Lucy.

To be quite honest, with her magma attribute, a simple magma lance was enough to pierce and melt the creature, even Frederic was surprised by how powerful the magma was.

As for Lisa since she was high leveled, she didn't need to attack, she just stood there watching Lucy with jealousy, though she glanced sometimes at Arthur and you could notice some anger and rage in her eyes but she didn't dare act for she knew the difference in strength between them, she even saw how he easily bound Frederic with those chains.

As for Arthur, he didn't attack nevertheless he made a transparent chaotic dark mana around Lucy, it wasn't noticeable by anyone, and it was much weaker than a normal barrier, but it should hold out against attacks from those monsters. He knew it was against the rules to protect those students for they had to experience real danger to grow up but he didn't care, it's not some stupid rules that are going to stop him from protecting the person he loves.

Just like that, they kept advancing in the going deeper in the dungeon, and the monsters increased until it was hard for the students to kill them, even Lucy could only some minor damage to the salamanders. So Frederic decided to stay there and encourage the students to try their best and win against those monsters, but he actually was thinking of a way to separate Lucy from Arthur, but it seemed near impossible for Arthur kept sticking to Lucy even when she is fighting even though he didn't help her.

Even if he wanted to force a fight he knew it would end up badly for him, so, for now, he decided to stay low until a chance comes up, after all, he brought up something special with him, it was a talisman curse, it's very rare to find and more difficult to create.

The one he had is to reduce the stats of the one it touched by 5%, so it's like reducing the stats by half and he believed if he can decrease Arthur's stats by at least half he would have a chance to get Lucy, because for him if he can kidnap her and use her as a hostage to get Arthur, it would be the best way to lure him, even though his stats would be reduced, it would only be for an hour and just 1 hour is not enough for him to either win or capture him.

Evening soon came, and all the students except were exhausted and could barely walk, they found a safe area in the dungeon and camped there. They made tents and some fire here and there and split into different groups, friends stayed with each other while some other male students accompanied Lisa, as for Lucy and Arthur they sat alone in a corner.

Arthur appraised Lucy and saw her LVL became 58, to raise 2 LVLS in one day but apparently the experience one gets from killing monsters in a dungeon is better than killing normal monsters in forests or other places.

Actually, Arthur was curious as to what exactly is a dungeon, how is it created or why? but even after going through a lot of books he still couldn't find anything so he decided to give up his search for the time being.

Night slowly passed and all students soon went to their tent to sleep, Lucy was also tired by she just leaned on Arthur's shoulder and soon soundlessly fell asleep, it seemed uncomfortable for her to sleep like that so he used his lap as a pillow to let her sleep more comfortably.

Truthfully, it was the first time she slept in his lap and felt kind of awkward but nevertheless he stroked her hair and stayed awake all night, he wasn't worried about Frederic or Lisa but you never know when danger comes and since he wasn't the least bit tired, staying awake all night didn't matter to him.

Morning finally came, and all the students woke up including Lucy who was slightly surprised to see herself sleeping in his lap, nonetheless she didn't stand up, she smiled at him with her enchanting face and he couldn't help but blush a little, to gaze at by this beauty no matter how many times, it still makes him embarrassed even though they were lovers.

Since he already gave her a lot of food, she retrieved some food and began devouring them, seriously every time he saw her eating he wondered where all the food goes, it's like there is a black hole in her stomach.

After breakfast, they continued hunting the salamanders and if they ever encountered a small-boss it will get dealt with by Lisa, honestly she was considered strong, her magic attack was weak but damn she was savage at attacking, her strength is no joke for a human even Arthur was slightly surprised, though with a punch from him it's sure she will turn into minced meat, nonetheless her strength is decent, at least for now she is considered more powerful than Lucy.

Another day peacefully passed, and the students seemed to get more excited, even Lucy managed to level up one more time, her strength grew every second she fought and her control over magma was perfect, she didn't use the fire attribute anymore for it was useless compared to the magma, even Arthur wanted the magma attribute as it seemed powerful but compared to his ancient fire it was truly a joke nevertheless that didn't stop him from wanting to have the magma.

*********

Outside of the El Kassia Dungeon, Arnold stood there alone, grinning as if he was mad, finally his spies informed him that the demon girl got out of the academy grounds and it means he can act and retrieve her, to be honest, he wasn't worried about Arthur for he was very confident in his powers, he heard Frederic also came but since the holy church was close with royalty he was sure Frederic wouldn't dare oppose him, in fact, he may even help him.

Without wasting time, he entered the dungeon with incredible speed as he was happy he finally going to capture the girl and be rewarded by the pope since he seemed to really want to get his hands on the demon for some reason but of course he didn't dare question his orders but after 2 weeks of patience finally a chance came. He came alone because he was already a bishop and no matter who came with him it would only bother him except other bishops came with him.

*********

As the students were fighting the salamanders like usual with Frederic, Lisa watching them and Arthur staying close to Lucy to watch her, a man suddenly came dashing in their direction, it was a handsome middle-aged man with a green-hair and a white sword sheathed to his waist. His arrival seemed too surprised everyone including Frederic and Arthur.

Feeling suspicious of this man, Arthur couldn't help but appraise him for he seemed not someone weak or a pushover

Arnold Kloer(human) : LVL204

'What! 204? that's higher than the principal, who is this man!', though Frederic was little shocked, he soon smiled and bowed towards the man while respectfully saying

"Lord Arnold, pleased to see you, what brings you to this low-level dungeon?"

It would be a lie to say Frederic wasn't overjoyed, quite the opposite, in fact, he was delighted, a chance finally came, he already knew the holy church tried to get Lucy, but he didn't think they would send someone Arnold a bishop! he was just guessing but what else would a bishop appear here, it's not like this dungeon has a precious treasure or anything of the sort.

"haha, Mr. Frederic, I've come here just to retrieve something."

While saying that, Arnold directed his gaze at Lucy who already finished killing the salamander.

Lucy, hearing the man's name and seeing his appearance couldn't help but tug Arthur's sleeve and softly say

"He's one of the 3 bishops..."

Although she trusted Arthur, Lucy was a little anxious, because bishops are known to be extremely strong and rarely come out to carry out missions but seeing him here, it was obvious it was to retrieve her, but she was curious why would they go to such lengths. She always wondered about that, after all, she was only a normal demon so why would the holy church chase her to the end of the world just to capture her, it really intrigued her.

Arthur seeing the Lucy little anxious, giggled for a bit before patting her soft head as if reassuring her, he then turned his head and looked at Arnold, the man seemed an upright and kind man, but who would have thought he would be in the holy church? maybe not all the people there are so greedy and evil but since he came to retrieve here, kind or not that didn't matter.

"I presume you are that famous black-robed man who slew my disciple, I believe you have met him? he was a swordsman like me."

While laughing, Arthur stared coldly at him and replied

"Indeed I have met him, unfortunately, he was so weak that he died in just one attack."

Arnold was a little angry to see someone mock his deceased disciple, but he didn't let his emotions get the better of him but he really wanted revenge for his disciple for he really doted on him and raised him since he was a child and seeing die just like that made him quite sad, plus his killer is in front of him is in front of him why wouldn't he take revenge.

"I believe you know why I'm here so why not cut to the chase and begin fighting, I'm really interested to see how would you handle yourself against me."

As he said that, he unsheathed his sword and took a fighting stance, one hand holding the sword and the other behind his back.

As for Arthur, he was little curious to see how powerful he is, after all, he didn't get a strong opponent since the young dragon, and to finally meet one made him rather excited. He wanted to go full out and see what would happen.

He slowly walked forward and waved his hand at Arnold as if indicating he's ready, to his signal the middle-aged man charged at him with incredible speed, to all watchers it was incredible speed but to Arthur it was nothing much, in fact, if he didn't possess the corpses from the Ghost island, he might have a little problem, however, with his new stats, the man's speed is almost like a crawling turtle in front of his eyes.

Arthur also rushed at the man while holding a dark red longsword, just as the two clashed, a huge crater was made under them and the nearby students were blown away, as for Lucy since Arthur created a barrier around her, she was completely safe.

Arnold frowned for a second when he clashed with Arthur, he knew he was pushed back and his strength is way inferior to his opponents, nevertheless his mastery in sword and skills are no joke, he backed 2 steps and quickly sidestepped to the left and used [tripple stab] it was a unique skill to swordsman and only professionals had it, with it you can stab 3 times instantly at the same place while inflicting double the damage every hit.

As his stabs were going to hit, Arthur simply disappeared and appeared behind him ready to hack at him, 'teleportation! Without incantation?' thought Arnorld as he saw the instantaneous movement of his foe, he was flabbergasted for a split second but thanks to many years of battle experience, he snapped out of it quickly and turned to defend against the incoming attack. As he was expecting the attack, Arthur vanished again and appeared behind him, but this time, the swordsman could feel a dangerous aura from the sword, and some violet energy seemed to pour out of the strange long sword.

Arthur prepared the [dark burst] with [void slash] and attacked Arnold who surprisingly reacted in time even though Arthur teleported two times in a row, the middle-aged man blurred for a second before he somehow backed away with amazing speed, but the slash of Arthur created a violent dark arc lengthening 3 meters, it continued all the way until it reached the dungeon's wall and shaking the whole cave.

To be honest, Arthur could just use the destructive force of ancient fire or (hell arrow] but he didn't do it, he wanted to see how he handles himself in a normal fight without using those, of course, if things began to be problematic he would use them instantly, but for now he wanted to test his physical strength. After he noticed he missed the slash, he created a spear and willed it to pierce the retreating swordsman and with its lightning speed, even Arnold couldn't react in time and was pierced in the shoulder.

Though he seemed to wear some special armor like his disciple and it almost resisted the spear, but nonetheless, some blood came out from the wound, it wasn't that serious but it could hinder anyone in a fight.

Arnold couldn't hind the astonishment from his face, he truly was surprised, for someone to be able to wound him and come out unscathed, plus he can use teleportation, hell he even used it 2 times in a row, his look soon turned more serious and he took some elixirs and gulped them, they were boosting elixirs than increased his power for some time, he noticed he held no advantage whatsoever, in fact in terms of strength and speed he was weaker so he had to find a way to win or use strong skills.

Frederic in the back stood there dumbfounded at the fight, normally only the principal could win against a bishop like this, even though her LVL was not higher than this bishop, her skills and magic was extremely powerful, but for this Arthur to injure a bishop is really surprising, and what made it surprising is that he didn't use that strange flame spear.

He truly was afraid of that flame and of its destruction that he guessed that Arthur didn't use it because if he did it he would injure all students including Lucy and destroy the cave and that would bring more problems, but unfortunately that Arthur couldn't care less about those students and whether they live or miserably die has nothing to do with him.

As for Lisa, she watched from afar, with her hands on her mouth and her legs shaking, it's the first time she saw powerful individuals fighting, heck! She couldn't even follow them, their speed is just beyond her, and even while concentrating, she only managed to barely see their clashing shadows. She didn't voice out her thoughts but it was clear on whose side she was, alas, if she was more thoughtful, she would have recruited this individual under her father, the Emperor's wing.

The fight continued, and the 2 men clashed together many times, but every trade ended up in Arnold being hurt, whether pierced by a spear or sent flying by a punch or a kick from Arthur, even his armor showed signs of breaking, 'he is not human! simply a monster!' Arnold couldn't help but shiver a little as he stared at the man a couple of meters in front of him. Arthur was smugly smiling at him.

"A bishop can only hold out this much? it's truly regretful and here I wanted to have a good fight, I'm not even seriously fighting"

Through the course of the fight, Arthur judged himself to be slightly more powerful than the bishop, moreover he had teleportation and a lot of magic so of course, he would gain easy advantage and his chaotic dark magic has a strong piercing power, so even the swordsman's armor couldn't hold out much and many wounds soon emerged after a couple of attacks.

While gazing at the struggling Bishop, Arthur sensed a great danger and looked at Frederic who was standing not far away, but it was too late and the man somehow teleported next to Lucy who was not far away, he then quickly a yellow weird talisman at her. The object seemed to exclude some gray energy that alerted him, he didn't even have confidence in his barrier and didn't think it would be able to stop that talisman, it looked more like a mental attack than a physical attack and the barrier only defended normal attacks.

Without a second to waste, he teleported between the incoming talisman and Lucy, he extended his hand as if wanting to crush it with his chaotic dark magic, but surprisingly the talisman went through the chaotic dark magic as if it didn't exist and struck Arthur's hand. A couple of seconds passed without nothing happening and just as Arthur was about to sigh a breath of relief a notification came :

WARNING: Cursed! -50% all stats

'Cursed?' it would be a lie to say he wasn't surprised, nonetheless, he sighed, at least it wasn't some dangerous attack, but for Frederic to have the guts to sneak attack, and at Lucy, why would he ever do that? Arthur didn't remember offending him except when he bound him but that wasn't something big to hold a strong grudge and why did he aim at Lucy.

Just as Arthur lifted his head to look at Frederic, he saw him smirking at him with a smug face, Frederic expected Arthur to try to protect Lucy, after all, everyone knew he was overprotective of the demon girl and him trying to take the talisman is to be expected. Now that his plan has succeeded there was a little bit of hope, he turned to look at Arnold and said

"Fear no more Lord. Arnold, he has been cursed for an hour, his power is halved you can take him down but please do not kill him I need him alive, as for the girl she's yours."

Hearing this, Arnold was startled for a second before he nodded at Frederic, now that his opponent has halved strength, his confidence rose, because no matter how strong he is, with a halved power he had the confidence to be able to win.

Arnold dashed at the weakened Arthur with the sword in his hand ready to slash, but Arthur just teleported away while still looking at Frederic

"I don't remember ever being in a conflict with you, so why would you attack me?"

Frederic furrowed his brows before laughing and replying

"Hahaha no conflict? You greatly offended Royalty and you expect to get away with it? There are a lot of people who want your head."

Truthfully, Arthur was quite pissed, for even royalty to butt in, he had to take precautions later and warn them about what would be the consequences but one thing for sure, playing time is over and none of the 2 men would get away alive from this dungeon.

The cave they were fighting was quite spacious, you couldn't even see the roof, and the students were a hundred meters or so, watching the fight with fearful eyes, they didn't know why the council members were fighting among themselves but of course they didn't dare question it or try to understand, all they cared about it getting out alive.

"You know, I wish I could tell you how grateful I am, you showing your true colors and attacking me is giving me a chance to get rid of you."

As he finished, Arthur raised his hand and closed his eyes but he nevertheless continued talking

"How cold and harsh is this place? Everywhere people want something, greed envelops all people and there is always conflict and unkindness, I think God has forsaken this place, if there is a god that is, I believe I have seen hell and I'm sure you will see it soon, for you have met despair the moment you have met me!"

Soon, the dark blue magic began to form rapidly above him and just a matter of seconds it began to form into an arrow, though this time, it had a blue and violet color, actually, the pressure it emitted is even more terrifying than the previous arrow.

It had the same size as the last arrow, and all nearby rocks began flying towards it as if it was some kind of black hole sucking everything around it.

Every student including Lisa got to their knees as they saw this horrific arrow, the sheer pressure was enough to make some students fall unconscious, as for Frederic and Arnold they only stared at the arrow dumbfounded, Frederic began shaking and Arnold only stood straight but he didn't dare attack, you could see a tinge of fear in his eyes even though he tried to calm down he couldn't, the arrow was facing him and he knew for sure he was doomed.

"Do you think you will get away with this? The Pope is not like me, he is god-like and not even this pitiful arrow can injure him."

"Whether it is pitiful or not, we'll see soon."

The hell arrow was already formed, but Arthur waited for a second before launching it at swordsman and Frederic, luckily, they were not far away from each other and the arrow length was very big so it could ravish them both, and indeed it did.

The arrow passed through both of them as if they didn't exist and struck the dungeon wall, literally nothing stopped it, not even the armor of the swordsman was left, even their blood didn't show, only some dark fog remained where arrow passed, though it struck the wall, it continued as if the wall never existed. It passed through various walls and a lot of monsters until Arthur willed it to disappear but it seemed to have massacred hundreds of creatures, and living a gigantic hole in the walls, in fact, you could see all the way to where the arrow disappeared, only a dark fog was left and nothing else, as if a huge black hole ate everything there.

The walls appeared eaten and not even the creatures were left just like Arnold and Frederic. Arthur sighed for a second before he turned towards Lisa who was shaking non-stop while looking at him

"It seems I need to make a little visit to your father to give him a little warning for I do not want unnecessary troubles coming from royalty again."

The girl could only nod continuously, what she saw today was obviously going to traumatize her, that's not a normal strength a human should have, to completely erase a bishop from existence, not even the best magician in the Human Empire can do that. Just remembering the sight made her wet herself a bit due to the extreme fear, after all, she's still young and was born with a golden spoon, so naturally, she never saw something as terrifying and fear-inducing as this, her life has always been laid back and relaxed. As for the other students, no comment.... some were unconscious and most of them were shivering nonstop, they were low-leveled compared to Lisa so they couldn't handle the pressure albeit the fact that it remained for only a few seconds.

Lucy stood there emotionless, she was neither surprised not terrified, she already saw that arrow when he used on the dragon, and she knew he killed the bishop for her sake, that alone made her joyful. Since he is this powerful it would be soon for her to go take revenge on them, especially that 'man' and the mere thought of it made her excited to finally get her revenge on those bastards. Arthur turned around walked towards Lucy and held her hand as if to comfort her

"Silly girl, I told you to not worry, a bishop is not a big deal, soon I will take you there, I promise!"

As he finished talking, he bent down and gave her a little kiss on her forehead...

Chapter end