Chapter 155 - 152 : When Blood Flows (1/2)

”Please do not misunderstand. It's true that I gifted the Emperor an army but that it does mean I'm his or your ally. I'm neither Human nor Demon and the war between of you does not concern me nor do I want to waste my time with that.

Although I consider him as a friend, I'll not help him rule the world or something like that, his matters are none of my business. I can give you an army too but I'll not personally help achieve your goals, I'll just provide means for you and do my end of the deal if you accept my offer, that is.”

Still frozen mid-air, Taliya glared at Arthur but chose to remain silent. As for the Demon Lord, she stared at Arthur but it was apparent she was absent-minded.

”We do not want an army.”

Whilst trying to keep a straight face and a deadpan expression, Mikayla calmly replied to his offer.

It was a bit regrettable, Arthur did not speak anymore, he retrieved his invisibly threads and unbound Taliya then he resumed walking out of the room.

”I still haven't finished talking.”

The Demon Lord really didn't want to let go of Arthur just like that. He was willing to help them for Taliya but she just couldn't be selfish as to sacrifice her big sister for her daughter. She had a small hope that maybe, just maybe she would be able to persuade him to help them get her back.

'That's it!'

”If--If you help us get our daughter back, I'll pass the Demon Lord title to you.”

It took her a lot of conviction to say that but for Mikayla, and even her husband, their daughter was more important than this position. Honestly, since she became a Demon Lord, her life became messier and more problematic with the council trying to find a hole and gain the title but she persisted, however, none of that matters if her family was divided like this.

Arthur finally disappeared from their view after he left one last sentence to reply to her.

”Demon Lord title? Is that how much your daughter is worth to you?... you can find me at the usual place..... I'm sure you know it.”

Three people were left inside the room, remaining silent, each having their own thoughts and struggling to come up with a good solution yet even after a couple of minutes, no one of them uttered a single word, they just stood there, motionless and silent.

...

Arthur had long since guessed that the Demon Lord sent someone to get him because he invaded the city and got rid of the black mage. That mage must have been causing trouble for them and since he disappeared so suddenly, they must've been suspicious or thought something bad was going to happen.

He didn't know how they tracked him but there is a chance that they tracked Robin and Rey he just happened to be with them but it's not like it matters right now, they can't threaten him or hurt him.

With nothing to do and no one to talk to, Arthur went back where his Death Golem was. His goal, for now, is to wait for that hideous looking creature to teleport back to the same location, if he could kill him instantly and take his treasure then there may be a chance to travel to another world and find a way to travel to Earth or find a master of Spatial Laws to possess. The chance may be slim but it still existed and that is more than enough to push Arthur to try it.

It's better than staying on Astria and loiter around. Knowing that Astria is a desolate world, it'll be quite hard to get out of it easily like the Underworld for example.

It's a world that is most likely in the Universe belonging to the System so the requirement to enter it is even more difficult which makes the plan to wait for a Space Master to come here is impossible to achieve.

Arthur sat at a reclusive corner in dark cavy room which was the same place the black mage was performing his weird ritual in. The Death Golem was guarding the exact place the ugly creature teleported from and the second anything out of place happens, Arthur would act immediately.

His sense was spread all the way to the surface and everything was ready, all he had to do was wait. With nothing else to do, Arthur opened his Status Window to check the changes as he gained quite an amount after passing the beginner phase.

TITLE : MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK HOLDER

Level: ???

Class: Dark ARK Parasite

Realm: Immortal 9th Grade

Strength: 135.9M

Intelligence:143.7M

Agility: 112.9M

Wisdom:127.8M

Vitality:104.4M

Dexterity:102.1M

-Health:115M-Health Regen:72894/s

Nether Energy:110M / Nether Energy Regen:85800/s

Mana:185M / Mana Regen:124514/s

Stamina: Infinite /Stamina Regen: ???

Creation : 125

Attack:218M

Defense:156.4M

Magic defense : 39.7M

Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / Ancient Threads / Sixth sense / ARK(Activated)

Mental Power : 1999

Elemental Resistances:

Fire: 100%

Darkness: 100%

Wind: 35%

Water: 75%

Earth: 75%

Light/holy: 5%

Shadow: 30%

Lightning: 100%

Ice: 30%

His stats have definitely risen by a huge margin and he is just 1 Mental Power away from breaking through, however, he won't be able to break through with just possessing, he needs to cultivate just a bit of Nether Energy and break that barrier.

Moreover, he still didn't reach the limits of his stats so he wasn't planning on breaking through the Divine Realm until he reaches that limit.

He already told Robin to collect all kinds of corpses for him and what made him happier is that she had an enormous stack of corpses in her storage rings, it's just that she forgot them in the Headquarters so he just told her he'll come when he's free.

The most important matter right now it finding a way out of Astria, as for possessing the corpses, he could do it in just a few hours and it'll be done swiftly.

...

A few days passed with nothing happening. Arthur sat there, silently waiting for the target to appear but it didn't seem the monster will appear anytime soon. Plus, his Dark Anguish Technique can't be channeled with Mana, adding the fact that there is literally no Nether Energy in this region, Arthur could only give up on cultivating a bit.

Seeing that waiting here will lead to nowhere and he's simply wasting precious time, Arthur used all his Mental Power to summon the strongest Death Knight he could spawn with his current strength.

He had to wait for his Mental Power to recover for a whole day before consuming it on a Warlock. The two Death Knights were at the middle stages of the Heavenly Realm and one of them was a Warlock.

With his Death Golem and two strong summons, Arthur was sure that if that hideous looking creature appeared, these three would be able to apprehend it immediately and retrieve that item from it before it could escape or teleport away.

Arthur was going to enter the ARK so he made all of this preparation. His lame copy said that no time will pass if he entered the ARK but he couldn't believe what he said. It may be the truth but he would rather plan things ahead and take some precautions rather than believe someone he just met.

”Dra'lka”

Just as he said that word, Arthur found himself standing in the endless white space yet again. His strength wasn't reduced and he could use the Dark Magic and anything else. He just entered the ARK but he honestly didn't know what to do exactly.

*Welcome to the ARK*

*Please choose what do you want to do*

*List:

Phase Training.

Rest.

Materialize.

Fuse.*

'So basically, I can't-do nothing but rest?'

Previously, the robotic voice, which apparently was the one controlling the ARK, told him that he couldn't undertake the next Phases until he breaks through to the Divine Realm. It was frustrating, especially when his power is equal if not stronger than normal Gods but his Realm is limiting him.

'What does the Rest do?”

*As the name suggests, the user 'Arthur' will be put in 'Rest Mode', increasing the Recovery rate by 200% and makes the time flow slower than outside.*

”Flow slower?”

*Yes. if the user 'Arthur' is in 'Phase Mode' then no matter how much time passes inside the ARK, no seconds will pass in Reality. As for 'Rest Mode', a Day in the outside is a month inside the ARK. The user 'Arthur' only has 10 years of rest currently. It will only increase if the user 'Arthur' passes other Phases in the 'Phase Mode'.*

'So that bastard was lying after all! He didn't explain it like this... tch! I knew it.'

His condition didn't require any recovery and he can do nothing in here besides walk in this endless space or maybe test his skills but Arthur wasn't in the mood for that. After pondering for a couple of seconds, Arthur left the ARK.

As his vision was back to the dark cave, he was momentarily startled as Taliya was standing a dozen of meters in front of him. She was just silently staring at him through the darkness.

Since he was not in 'Rest Mode' the couple of minutes he passed inside the ARK also passed in reality. Even if he stayed longer, with his Defense, there is no way he could be injured even if he just laid there without moving.

It'll even be hard for a Heavenly Realm to injure him, much less a Demon Lord or a low-leveled maid but sneak attacking Arthur was not the reason Taliya came here.

”If it isn't the head maid. What you brings you to my humble home?”

While folding his arms, Arthur leaned his back on the cold wall and stared back at Taliya.

The silver-haired maid kept a straight face and seriously said

”I'll follow you but on one condition.”

Hearing something that caught his attention, Arthur smirked as he could more or less guess what she's going to say

”Please pray tell then, I'm all ears.”

”I'll follow you if you get back Alina, the daughter of the Demon Lord. She must be safe and I'll not accept just a corpse.”

To be honest, Arthur didn't think this 'Alina' would be alive after all these years. Humans despise Demons and knowing their attitude, she must have been tortured, raped or even worse by them, the probability of her being safe is rather unlikely.

Even if, supposedly, she's still safe, then what about her mental health? There are countless ways to break someone and it is harder to recover from a mental breakdown than a physical injury.

”Those are harsh conditions you.... however, I accept.”

A sigh, that could be barely heard, escaped from Taliya's mouth when she heard his answer. She didn't know how strong he was but there may be a chance and if it means giving herself up then so be it!

Her focused attention was distracted when she heard a noise to the left, she thought it was an enemy but was dumbstruck when she saw an enormous scary looking golem and two creatures next to it.

She recognized the knight but the Warlock had a more creepy and ominous aura around it, its staff had a dark crystal that emitted a black fog and it wore a robe made from ancient bones and black tattered leather.

Arthur slowly got up and talked as he patted the dust off his clothes

”So let's make this clear. I bring the girl back, safe and sound of course, and you'll follow me?”

Hearing his voice, Taliya snapped off her daze, she shifted her eyes from the golem back to Arthur and nodded her head seriously.

”That is right.”

Only Taliya came to talk him which made Arthur a bit confused. It was the Demon Lord's daughter and not Taliya's, so why is she the one coming to speak to him?

There is only one explanation, it's that the Demon Lord didn't know about Taliya coming here. Arthur expected that they will come looking for him sooner or later but he didn't expect it to be that way.

His assumptions are not yet confirmed but he is positive that it's the case. Arthur raised his hand and pointed at the where the Death Golem and started injecting an astronomical amount of Mana to create a cage.

”Alright then, I'll depart whenever you want me to. But let me tell you one thing, I do not like being lied to, nor do I like being betrayed or people who break their promises. Should you not follow your end of the deal when I return the girl then.... let's just say you'll regret it.”

”Don't treat me like a Human. Demons always keep their promises, we're not like those filthy tricky humans.”

Arthur just shrugged his shoulders and kept creating the cage of thorny vines around the Death Golem. Vines as thick as a tree trunk twirled and wrapped around themselves as they made an unbreakable cage around the Death Golem, imprisoning it and creating some sort of a prison around that area.

Arthur didn't want anything getting in or out of this small area, should someone even try to cut the vines, it will automatically attack it and kill it at all costs.

”So, when do we depart?”

With a serious look and a deadpan expression, she replied

”We depart right now.”

She didn't even tell him to go prepare himself, Taliya was too direct as she demanded they depart immediately which was a bit rude of her part since he's going to retrieve the daughter of her sister and someone very close to her.

Taliya wanted to go straight ahead because her little sister, who is also the Demon Lord, does not know what she is currently doing and will probably oppose her decision which is something she could not tolerate as every day that passes, Alina would suffer more, if she is alive that is.

”Then off we go.”

Arthur waved his hand, taking out the Dark Cloud and immediately jumping on it and sitting comfortably on it then he looked at Taliya, clearly waiting for her to jump on the ominous dark nebula he was sitting on.

Of course, the head maid recognized the cloud and was not so optimistic about riding it for various reasons.

”You wanted to depart now so hop on. We'll never arrive if I wait for you or travel with your slow speed.”

Feeling a bit regretful, Taliya sighed and leaped on the cloud whilst trying to keep as much distance from Arthur as possible but it wasn't that easy. The cloud was wide but not to the point of keeping the distance she wished for, all she could do was just stand at the edges of the cloud and cautiously stare at Arthur.

The other party could feel the intense glare of Taliya, he shook his head and said

”I don't think we'll get along if you keep acting like that, I suggest you start practicing your role rather than being cautious, I'm not going to eat you or hurt you. Remember that I'm helping you and I'm certainly not the enemy.”

Albeit hearing what he just said, the silver-haired maid kept being cautious and the intense stare never went away so all Arthur could do was just sigh and try his best to ignore her, for now at least.

As usual, a dark barrier was created around the Dark Cloud, for safety purposes, and for Taliya, since he wasn't going to hold back in terms of speed, the wind resistance would surely crush her and push her out of the cloud so the barrier is there to nullify that.

Not even a minute after they rode the cloud, they were already out of the cave and even out of the city which was something Taliya's brain couldn't process.

The city wasn't outrageously big but it still was one of the main cities and the presence of the castle belonging to the Demon Lord proves hit, however, the cloud's speed was so fast that Taliya could barely see what's blurring all around her, it was too mind-numbing to witness.

”You see the difference now? If I wanted to hurt you then you would not even be able to retaliate so why not relax?”