The first thing Arnold did after coming out of the portal was to visit Nina. It had been a while since he saw her and to be honest, he didn't like the thought of leaving her and Nicole without any protection in his absence.

Nicole was more than enough to protect Nina but still, as strong as she was, even she couldn't notice that Nathan was possessed by someone. And Arnold didn't want to take the chance again.

He was worried the Paladin or Vassal who attacked Nathan could also harm others thus he did what the system recommended him to do. He accessed the shop from his interface and bought two items, a necklace and a ring. He got the ring for Nina while the necklace was meant to be given to Nicole.

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OBJECT: Crimson Witch's Ring

TYPE: Accessory

GRADE: Cosmic B

EFFECT: INT +150, Provides complete protection from mental invasions.

REMARK: A powerful ring that once belonged to the first Consort of the king of hell, Hades. The ring was supposed to be the symbol of their union but when he caught her conspiring against him with her siblings to kill him, Hades annihilated her entire family while feeding her to the corrupt punishers of hell. One of the punishers ended up swallowing her ring which was then recovered by a hero whose identity has been lost in the records of Apollo, the God of knowledge.

The ring provides its bearer complete protection against mental attacks and further improves the bearer's intelligence.

The effects are applied once someone tries to mentally invade the bearer's mind.

___

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OBJECT: Necklace of Hecate

TYPE: Accessory

GRADE: Cosmic B

EFFECT: INT +250, Provides complete protection from mental invasions, Enhances spell effectiveness of those possessing Shadow affinity by 40%.

REMARK: The prized necklace made by the Goddess of witchcraft and magic, Hecate. It is said she made this necklace with a handful of Black opals and then sew them together using an olive branch before embuing it with her magic.

She made the necklace for her daughter, Circe, who threw away the necklace because of its bizarre appearance. The necklace had since been floating around the boundless universe in search of its owner.

The effects are applied once someone tries to mentally invade the bearer's mind.

Special condition: The necklace can only be equipped by someone possessing Shadow affinity.

___

While the necklace was just another gift he bought for his little sister, the ring had more significance than that. Arnold being the mad lad he was, had planned to propose to Nina before leaving for Chinna and the ring ended up being the one he used to propose to her.

It was the day before he was going to leave for Shanghai. Thus, he took Nina out for a dinner and after that, they went to do her favourite thing: Stargazing. The night was young, yet not a soul was around them. Maybe they were too busy to enjoy the beauty of the night sky.

Nina gazed at those twinkling bright friends of the moon. She had failed to notice their happiness before. Maybe she felt so because she was happy herself. Without her noticing, Arnold pulled out the crimson ring from his pocket. He might've been the strongest man on Earth, but at that moment he was as nervous as any other boyfriend would've been.

Under a sky of perfect midnight velvet, he finally gathered the courage and went down on one knee. Nina saw him, holding the ring in his hands. The crimson stone on the ring reflected clearly the stars above. She ended up saying yes even before Arnold could utter a single word.

It wasn't the world's most happening proposal, but Arnold it was the best moment of his life.

That was also the case for a certain someone in Shanghai.

A man gazed at the city before his eyes, Shanghai, the Paris of the east. It had been a long night for the man. After all, satisfying three barely adult girls wasn't an easy job to do. Especially at the age of 69.

'Huhuhu looks like my dragon can still tame any hare...' The man thought while patting his potbelly.

Standing 6' 0" tall, this brown-skinned man had a greedy feel about him. A particularly notable feature was his missing tooth. The same tooth his younger brother had knocked out when he found out that the pot-bellied's son had been sexually mistreating his daughter.

Every time he thought about how he was humiliated, made his round face got red as if he had consumed a bowl of hot chilly powder. But that only made the moment when he kicked his nephew and niece out of their home even more satisfying.

It had been more than a decade since Chiang Ling forcefully took over his younger brother's business which was supposed to go to his niece and nephew. Ever since then he has had all the comfort he ever dreamed to have.

Thanks to his 'brother' he owned hundreds of properties around the world. He has had about half a century or so illicit relationships with politicians, their wives and even their daughters. He basically had dirt on everyone who could pose a threat to the underworld empire he had created for himself and his equally rotten son, from scratch.

Even in the age of dungeons and warriors, he was the King of China's underworld. No one dared to raise their voice against him. After all, he had backing from China's strongest Swordsman, the Sword God, Yu Zhung. It was the same Yu Zhung who was Asia's only SS ranked warrior.

With someone like Yu Zhung backing him, Chiang had no one to be afraid of. Because Yu Zhung, he was able to do whatever he wanted to, whomever he wanted without facing any consequences.

Thanks to Chiang's illegal businesses, the Ling group of industries which was once a respectful organisation was now frowned upon by the general masses. But Chiang didn't care about his public image at all. All he cared about was money and power. As long as he got what he wanted, he didn't care whom he had to screw over.

Little did he know his puny Sword god won't be able to protect him from the catastrophic rage of the Deathless, who also happened to be his nephew, Arnold Ling.