Chapter 158 - 155 : Changes Inside the Sec (1/2)

Upon hearing Arthur talk to her, Lissandra snapped out of her daze and turned her head toward Arthur, who was looking at her with a cold and reproaching look, after all, it was partially her fault that these black clothed people came here with Robin and from their look and aura, they certainly didn't come looking for peace.*In fact, just by the fact that the old man used one of his skill to damage the bone dragon, Arthur had already considered him as an enemy that must be eliminated, the question was, how would he kill it.

Since Lissadndara is considered their godly figure and she can easily command them, it would be the best choice to let her take care of things. Albeit becoming a Mortal, Arthur thought none of them would dare to oppose her or even raise his tone or mock her, their worship was not for show and they obeyed her orders letter by letter.

In fast, Lissandra didn't even need o raise her voice or utter a single word. The second the old man laid his eyes on her figure, his eyes turned into complete shock and disbelief.

”G-Goddess?”

Eyes wide open, shaken voice and utter astonishment, that was the state of the old man, he couldn't even keep his composure. He instantly descended from the sky and flew to Lissandra and jumped in front of her, prostrating himself. He needn't an answer from her to confirm her suspicions, there was no way he was wrong, not with the proud demeanor and cold look.

Although he felt that something was strange, what was she doing here and why is the pressure he usually feels from here is gone but he dared not say that loudly for fear of punishment or even worse.

”What do you think you are doing? I did not order you to come here. Are you revolting against your master's orders?”

Seemingly startled but her anger and displeasure, the old man didn't dare raise his head, he kept kowtowing whilst replying with the still shaking voice.

”I,I dare n-not, master! We didn't receive any contact from for more than a year so we thought you....”

The old man realized what he just said and more sweat covered him as he became more nervous and stressful.

Whilst snorting, Lissandra got off the dark cloud and stared angrily at the old man, it was obvious that she didn't pay attention to what he just said, she was just acting like this purely to follow Arthur's orders as apparently, he was her new boss since she became a mortal. Moreover, she can't try anything with the death knight guarding her every second without even letting her breathe, she tried to persuade Arthur or removing the annoyance as she clearly isn't able to flee but he was still rejecting that, completely distrusting her, which is the right thing to do.

”Stop spouting nonsense and go back where you came from, I don't have the time to deal with you bunch.”

Although anyone can see she is but a Mortal if they have the necessary strength, none of the black-clothed people dared to reply or retort, they just turned around and left with the old man in the lead.

The process took just a couple of minutes and the situation was easily solved. Seeing the disappearing shadows of her subordinates vanishing from her sight, Lissandra turned around and looked at Arthur, waiting for some kind of reaction or an order.

She could have ordered them to attack Arthur or take someone hostage but that would be too idiotic and reckless, she knew more than anyone how terrifyingly strong he is so it was better to remain calm and just follow his orders like any normal prisoner.

It's a pity she couldn't warn him about what's bothering her but since he didn't want to hear it then even if he blamed her later on, she wouldn't care.

”Now that nuisance has been taken care of, let's welcome our guests.”

Arthur glanced at Robin, who was not far away from him, standing behind the half-closed gates. After she saw the black-clothed people disappear, she sighed and walked toward Arthur with a relieved expression.

”I apologize for the trouble.”

Heartily laughing, Arthur waved his hand indicating that it was okay and added

”No worries hahaha, it's just a small matter, now why don't you follow us to the headquarters, where we can talk.”

...

It didn't take long for them to return to the same meeting room with two extra people who were Robin and her assistant. She still maintained that cold look but Arthur noticed that she was less reserved than a few days ago when he met her in the Itas continent. Although it's a few days for her and everyone else, for him, it's been years, he just couldn't afford to enter another one of those crazy long dreams. Just recently, he went crazy and could have hurt Taliya, who was supposed to be his ally, and that alone proves how unstable he was currently.

”I'm glad to see you safe and sound. Now onto the more important matters, by coming here I presume you accepted my offer?”

Arthur would not mind spending time talking with Robin as she is a good ally and an important friend but he just had too many things in his hands right now and he could not afford to sit leisurely all day.

With Lissandra help, he is going to expand his search territory, first to look for the missing people such as Mary and also look for anything out of the place, anything that has relations with the black mage or the four-armed monster. The second plan was called 'Purification Plan' as it was his first step into cleaning up his home and making it a better and peaceful place. The war ongoing between Demons and Humans can be solved later but for now, he should focus on the more important matters.

--

Robin pulled back her glasses and glanced at the present people to ascertain about a few things then she stared at Arthur and replied resolutely

”Thanks for the welcome and helping me yet again. Just as you said, I discussed your offer and I'm willing to collaborate with your sect and a build a future where my company and your sect can flourish further and further.”

Her tone held some excitement as she could think of countless benefits earned by their alliance. With their incredible manpower and strict laws, coupled with her company's wealth and materials she could provide, the two can help each other in many ways. Powerful guards or even dragons could guard an expedition, assuring that no attacks from bandits or such occur and vice versa, she would provide Gold, materials and so on for the sect to expand on all of the continents, basically, it's a win-win situation.

Arthur clapped his hands two times, indicating his approval, then without hesitation, he waved his hand and took out many delicious dishes coupled with rare juicy meats and unique drinks he made personally.

If we're talking about support-like skills, Arthur literally had all of them, whether it's cooking, liquor making, tailoring or blacksmithing, he had all of them in Advanced, moreover, he had few special skills earned from unique individuals. With the help of those skills and other skills he earned from ancient beasts, he was able to make a diluted liquor while adding a couple of fruit flavors.

Jackob and the rest didn't hesitate as they started devouring the luxuries. Robin also didn't hold back, she merely followed the noble etiquette and ate slowly. Only the reserved Taliya refrained from even lifting her hand as for her, Arthur could only shake his head and ignore her, it's her choice, after all, he's not going to force her to eat anything.

The silver-haired maid silently glanced around her only to see everyone enjoying a hearty meal, Jackob was even dumbstruck by the burning sensation and the strong flavor of the liquor, despite that, he took several gulps, never stopping and requesting Arthur to retrieve more.

After fully enjoying the meal, Jackob and Anastassia left to handle sect matters and Robin also went outside to tour the territory and familiarize herself with the new environment. The only two people left were Taliya and Arthur, as for Lissandra, she was ordered leave long before they began to eat.

Robin didn't forget to give Arthur 6 storage rings and explained how she divided the corpses.

'It's a good thing I decided to visit the Itas Continent' Arthur thought as he played with the six rings in his hands, each one had one thousand five hundred beast corpses with the worst ring having only corpses which had a Level ranging between 30 and 70 and the best ring having corpses which had a whopping Level of 350.

It wasn't easy to acquire such corpses as Robin didn't have enough manpower to slay such a beast and at a continuous period, so the only thing he could guess was that she able to lucky find the corpse.

One more thing Arthur decided to do is fix his territory before embarking to the cave under the Demon City, he had to take care of his and Lucy's sect and make sure that it's properly managed and is totally safe. He also has to possess all those corpses since he didn't reach his limit yet. After a bit of pondering, he decided to sacrifice one week to do all of that, then when the time is right, he'll fly to where his Death Golem is and patiently wait for the hideous creature to teleport back, no matter how much time it takes, he was willing to wait for it but once he's there, he'll never leave the cave. It was a trip without return, he had to leave Astria!

The silence was getting on Taliya's nerves, Arthur was usually talkative and this atmosphere was quite awkward, especially when she noticed that the other party is completely ignoring her existence. After throwing some glares at Arthur, Taliya was forced to spit out her thoughts.

”About what we talked about earlier.”

Taliya's usually calm temper vanished whenever she's talking with him. When she saw that he was still lost in thoughts, dark and ruthless thoughts rampaged inside her mind.

'He's so strong, I'm sure he wouldn't die, right?'

Although she was hesitating at first, she could not hold back her anger and frustration anymore, with a swift and flawless movements, she withdrew one of her short blades and threw it at Arthur.

Unfortunately, nothing happened even after throwing her sharp blade, when it was about twenty centimeters away from Arthur, the short blade broke into small pieces as if it hit an unbreakable barrier.

What she didn't know was that Arthur constantly had a Dark Barrier around him, after so much time has passed, it became a habit of his. Furthermore, is Lucy was here, he would unconsciously create two kinds of barriers around her, making sure she's always protected from any sneak-attacks.

Even though the goal she wished for wasn't reached, at least her attack awakened Arthur from his deep thoughts. With a confused expression and tilted face, he looked at Taliya, demanding an explanation for her previous actions.

”You were lost in thoughts, it was the only method I can think of.”

'Only method my ass, if it was another person, he would have been dead!'

Keeping his thoughts to himself, Arthur coughed and added

”So you were saying?”

”A-ah, about our deal....”

Whilst dismissively waving his hand, Arthur didn't bother giving an appropriate answer

”I think Alina most likely disappeared the same way the others did meaning is we find the source, we find all of them. As for the temporary pause, it'll last for one week, in meantime you go back to the Demon Continent and inform your sister and I'll send scouts all over Astria to search for clues, that is all I can do.”

Taliya knew that it's the best answer she could get for now. But what she was stuck in a dilemma, go back or not. Technically, he didn't do his part of the deal so she can't honor hers but he clearly tried to retrieve the little girl so she could only sigh and force herself to make a decision that she didn't want to take.

Taliya sat up and left the room after leaving one final phrase

”For now, I'll not leave, I will only leave when the deal is done as I promised to help you retrieve my niece.”

With that, the head maid left the room, leaving Arthur alone.

----

It was only after a couple of minutes that Arthur sat up from the chair and prepared to leave the room but once again, he was interrupted. A black shadow materialized in front of him until it formed the silhouette of an individual. It was, in fact, Anastassia, who was wearing her usual clothes which covered her appearance.

Knitting his brows, Arthur looked at the silent woman in front of him, expecting her to say something but the latter coldly glared at him for sometime before saying

”Lucy will kill you if she knew that you're making a deal with another woman.”

Seemingly carefree, Arthur shrugged his shoulders and casually replied

”It's just a deal. I'm not cheating on her and I do not have any thoughts of laying my hand on the maid.”

”I already asked the maid about the deal. You want her to follow you? That's even more of a reason for Lucy to kill you AND her.”

The relationship between Anastassia and Lucy was not that close but they were not strangers too. Lucy took care of her when she was injured and they would chat from time to time, as someone who witnessed how much Lucy loves Arthur, she also knew that she is an overprotective woman who easily gets jealous, even when Arthur talk to her!

So seeing that Arthur was traveling with a maid, and a pretty one at that, it didn't sit quite well with Anastassia, she first thought he was an unfaithful man but he doesn't seem to be that kind of person so she didn't immediately jump to thoughtless conclusions.

”I only love two people and they are my daughter and wife and I know you are fully aware of that, right?”

His tone was still casual but a hint of seriousness and resolution could be felt from it, Anastassia retracted her cold glare and sighed.

She was not an expert in communication but she was able to see the loneliness in his eyes, even though he kept a carefree attitude, there is no doubt that he is missing his family.

'It seems I was overthinking.'

Yet again, Anastassia's figure blurred and disappeared from the room.

”Don't forget that you always have a friend to speak to. As my benefactor and friend, I cannot let you fall into a despair or else Lucy would never forgive me....”

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

The very first day Arthur literally did not leave his room. Anastassia and the others didn't come to bother him in his private room. Although they don't know his Race or just presumed he's a Human, they know at least that he has countless secrets and didn't insist on knowing the truth.

With so many corpses to possess and stats to gain, Arthur didn't hold back when he got back, he immediately started possessing corpses left and right and then he absorbed them using [Death Touch]. The thing is, he is probably getting experience by using that but it was so meager that it's basically useless right now.

He tried reading the content of the letter again but it didn't help at all. Such a skill cannot be this limited, especially if it's compared to [Faster Than Death] which is a godly skill that never betrayed Arthur's expectation.

The thing is, this instant movement skill is not that perfect, it's certainly helpful in many ways but some enemies such as the dragons, can predict where he will teleport to, he also cannot spam it in a short amount of time.

It is possible to activate it after a second or two but in close-range combat, a second is enough for a God to pierce his heart or finish him.

There was also strong skills such as [Bear affinity] or [Fierce Calling], the first was helpful if he possessed a bear but he would rather possess a unique body of a Griffin than an ancient bear due to the accumulated passives, they would bring much more advantage to him than 50% bonus stats, especially if his stats reach a certain limit.

As for the latter, which conjures an image of a bear, the cost is simply too absurd, just ten seconds would consume 5 Million Mana points. This amount is but a drop of his Mana Pool but it's still outrageously high which is why he refrained from using it against Bucama.

The list goes on and on, numerous skills, forbidden spells or mysterious techniques, he had so much that it became mind-numbing, so he focused only his primary skills and would rarely use the other ones, to conserve Mana and attack more efficiently whilst doing more damage.

Overall, he can be considered both a physical and magical oriented fighter, it depends on the enemy and environment. He would rather fight in a long range to avoid deadly attack such as Bucama's last desperate attack but that could only blame himself as he dropped his guard and was exhausted.

He longed for his wife and daughter so he sought for more power, it's only logical, however, he didn't forget his friends residing on Astria, for this purpose, he decided to sacrifice this week to prepare things for Anastassia and the rest.

After he finishes possessing all those corpses, he would clean the territory from any possible enemies, spies or anything, they may be insignificant for him but Arthur doesn't know how much time he would be absent. He also needs to make this land a bit more convenient. Unfortunately, the western continent was a wasteland covered with dry earth and mountains of sables, it was literally a hot and dangerous desert which is exactly why the other powerful factions ignored it and didn't think of conquering it.

But Arthur thought of it differently, with the use of his Nature and Plant Magic, along with his Earth Attribute and other special skills, he was going to create something worth fighting for, not just a desolate territory that people take shelter in for fear of the unknown laying all around them.

---------

It took Arthur 7 hours to possess 9,000 corpses, he would look at his stats every 1,000 corpses possessed. As for the skills, he either already possessed them or earned a few ones but none was worth mentioning. This was to be expected since he possessed so many species that it's unlikely to get a new skill, so that means if he stays on Astria, the probability of possessing a powerful being or obtaining a new strong skill is very low.

When this boring job was done, Arthur was bewildered to see that his stats still didn't reach a limit, but the result was truly not bad.

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

Level: ???

Class: Dark ARK Parasite

Realm: Immortal 9th Grade

-

Strength: 195.6M

Intelligence: 207.6M

Agility: 179.1M

Wisdom: 156.7M

Vitality: 153.9M

Dexterity: 150.2M

-

Health:162.4M // Health Regen: 77941/s

Nether Energy: 145.6M // Nether Energy Regen: 90500/s

Mana: 244M // Mana Regen: 141378/s

Stamina: Infinite /Stamina Regen: ???

Creation : 125

Attack: 288.8M

Defense: 209.4M