Chapter 159 - 156 : Final Preparations (1/2)

As Arthur gave the order, a strange, almost mechanical voice started ringing in his ears and after a few seconds, it seemed that the source of the ringing was coming out of his body.

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

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

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

....

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

'How am I supposed to fight like this?'

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

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

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

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

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

...

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

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

...

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

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

”...”

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

”What?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

...

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

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

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

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

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

”What is the deal with those chains?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

.....

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

”Who are y,you?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

”What's this?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

”What's your name?”

”I-It's G..Gutcha.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

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

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

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