Chapter 318 - 271 : Time (1/2)
From their current position, only Arthur was able to witness what's happening at the peak of the volcanic mountain. The distance was too far for Josef to see his niece, moreover, the fog was quite dense so the visibility was lessened even more.
Slowly, Arthur brought Josef and himself closer to the mage while wising Wind Magic to push away the nearby fog. Soon enough, they were only around thirty meters away from the masked woman, who was busy fighting some monsters called [Fire Devils]. They were quite powerful considering the point of view of players and even the mage was having difficulty taking them down for she was a fire user too.
Although they were close enough to be noticed, thanks to Space Magic, they were hiding in a separate spatial dimension, allowing them to pass as unnoticed and remain invisible to outsiders.
Le Orn only needed a single look at the mage to recognize her, he took a deep breath as he was lost in thought while staring at his niece.
After some time has passed, he said:
”If bringing me here without the headset caused me to power-up and obtain the skills I have in the game but what about the opposite?”
Arthur smiled as he expected such a question and replied:
”I was wondering the same too, however, It's too early to test it out. I need to bring a trusted person for such an experiment as the consequences could be fatal.”
Arthur was thinking about doing it himself, however, once he enters the game, he'll lose his powers due to the overwritten System. There is also the possibility of that not happening since his System was originally from Astria.
”Hmm, does that mean you trust me? Hehehe”
Josef chuckled as he glanced at Arthur. For his old friend to bring him to Astria and tell him what happened in the past, he must have at least trust him a bit.
”I may not be a good judge of character but at least I know who to and to not trust.”
Josef remained silent for some time as he absent-mindedly gazed at Arthur then said with a weird tone
”I may be a money-hungry motherfucker but by no means am I blind or idiot. The way I see it, you somehow managed to come to this world a couple of years ago, which is why no one found you or your corpse. This also explains your current power but I still don't understand how you got THIS strong, it's absurd.”
Hearing this, Arthur laughed and didn't deny Josef's words, instead, he added to them:
”Although I was in the fool in the past, not all people I befriended were complete bastards huh...”
In response, Le Orn scratched his head and smiled awkwardly while maintaining his silence. After all he had seen, along with Arthur's powers and how he can teleport from Earth to Astria this easily, Josef presumed that his powers could match the Goddess on Earth if not stronger.
Of course, to ascertain that, he needs to see them fight, not like it'll ever happen, though.
”So, what do you intend to do?”
After a long silence and when the battle blow was getting more heated, Josef asked out of curiosity. With his meager power and low-level, he can do nothing and will definitely keep what he saw to himself but he was still intrigued by what Arthur's plans were.
”I suppose asking you to get rid of all the headsets is impossible. For now, I'll keep investigating and deal with Claudia first, then I'll see how to proceed. As long as nothing urgent happens then there's no need to rush things as I'm busy with other matters.”
Josef nodded his head as he agreed with Arthur while speaking
”Do you need my help? I may be a CEO of a gaming company, I still have a lot of connections.”
Arthur waved his hand and retorted
”Josef, connections are temporary. With enough power, you can do anything you want and no one would stop you. Do you think I don't have the power to capture Claudia without anyone finding out? I can do it in the blink of an eye yet I won't. It won't be satisfying, I have to do it the right way, the way it should be done.”
As he listened to Arthur's words and stared at the latter, Josef felt chills down his spines, his body shook against his will and he could feel a suffocating pressure that overwhelmed him. Thankfully, this lasted for a split second before it disappeared.
The duo didn't linger on the Westia Continent any longer, with a few teleports, Arthur and Josef appeared at the MoonStar Sect. The roof was empty as Anastassia were welcoming Lucy and enjoying a short moment of relaxation.
.......
[Level up]
Although Victoria's face was hidden, under that mask there was a totally dumbfounded expression, one she never had for years. Just a half a minute ago, she was fighting a group of five Fire Devils and she barely managed to destroy three of them only for a High Fire Devil to appear out of nowhere. She knew she would die so she mustered all her powers to slay another one to gain a bit more experience, however, the unexpected happened which led her to stand there, dazed and shocked for more than a minute.
Out of nowhere, the three remaining opponents lifelessly fell on the burning floor and never got up again.
She didn't know what exactly happened and when she took a closer look at the corpses, she still was unable to comprehend how exactly did they die.
Fortunately, the loot was bountiful and the experience allowed her to give up yet the woman didn't feel her usual sense of satisfaction after a tough fight, she just felt startled and a sense of emptiness.
...
Arthur and Josef entered the High Tower of the MoonStar sect and met with Lucy and the rest at a wide room beautifully decorated and filled with tables which had all kinds of delicacies. Currently, Sonia and Mary were chatting with Lucy, who seemed happy to meet them.
Unlike her usual indifferent attitude, she was actively talking with the two girls and even softly smiling every now and then.
”I didn't expect you to go back this early, what happened?”