Seeing the big crowd circling them, Arthur became excited, as for him, they were precious stats and skills, it's indeed true he promised Mary he would investigate this, if they attack him first then it's self-defense right?

He previously appraised them and the old man and they were indeed very high-leveled, the old man was even higher LVL than the Yamak, he was LVL729, but Arthur had complete confidence, he knew his stats are not for someone of his LVL.

In theory, Yamak was over lvl 600 and had 70/80k stats, so Arthur who has 500/600k stats should theoretically be someone with a lvl of over 2000.

The old man was angry but he acted calm, he glanced at Arthur, who was the only one not on Astrith's back and assessed him, however, he didn't have any appraise skill so he couldn't guess his exact strength, even so, he wasn't threatened or worried as he was enough power to deal with a bunch of invaders but why bother when there are so many disciples present?

Arthur was just about to talk when the old man waved his hand randomly indicating to the disciples to attack, he didn't want to hear Arthur or waste time on him.

After he did that, he turned around to walk away, although it's surprising they managed to get in, it was not impossible and there were several cases in the past so he judged them to be weak, and even if they were strong, against so many opponents, it's quite hard to stay alive.

Arthur was quite irritated by this the nonchalant attitude of the old man, he sneered and transformed into lightning, rushing at the incoming enemies.

He noticed that all of them had no weapons and seemed about to punch him, he was momentarily surprised but still didn't care about them, whether they pitied him or were going easy, that's a matter he paid no heed about since they were attacking him then that means only one thing...

Death!

Their speed was fast, but not faster than Yamak, however, it astonished Arthur as they were the fastest opponents he faced except the dragon of course, albeit their great speed, it was useless against him.

Each time he passed by a disciple, he would stab in their hearts with sword energy then store the body in his storage in a flash, from other people's view, they only saw the disciples disappearing one by one, which was very strange.

When Arthur uses lightning form, one cannot even see the streak of lightning anymore, it's at a LVL where one needs immense eyesight and stats to be able to see him, much less dodge him.

Arthur held no mercy, the hundred or so disciples who were rushing at him were literally cleared in 10 seconds, no more than that, and the only reason it was this long because he had to store their bodies.

The yard was now quiet, there was only the old man who walked a few steps away from his previous location, he noticed how there was no noise so he abruptly turned his head and saw that there was only Arthur standing leisurely there, staring at him with a long grin hanging on his face.

Arthur laughed heartily then said while staring at the old man

"Ha ha ha, what's the matter? Please don't make that face, I came here only to talk but they attacked me, it's self-defense, I tell you, self-defense hahaha"

The man only stared at Arthur with disbelief, more than a hundred disciple vanished in a mere 10 seconds, that's obviously no natural thing, he didn't even see what happened as he was walking away.

He was strong enough to defeat them or kill them all but not in just 10 seconds.

Mary, who was sitting on Astrith, had her mouth wide open, she saw Arthur fight many times but she knew how powerful the disciples in the Ma clan is which is why she was flabbergasted when she saw him finish them in a short amount of time.

She jumped from Astrith and said to Arthur hurriedly

"Arthur...this place is the male area..."

Arthur was sneering and mocking the old man heard her and turned to look at the female beastmen while furrowing his brows showing his questioning look

"Male area?"

Seeing his confused look, Mary continued to explain

"..A-Actually, the Ma clan is divided to 2 areas, the female area and the male area, the female area is stronger as the bloodline affects females better than males, but there are some strong individuals in the male area.."

She then rested for a couple of seconds to breathe some fresh air as she talked non-stop

"...That old man must be a section chief, his position is considered decent, from what I know, there is section chiefs, lords, and elders, with the elders being the highest rank besides the master of the clan and the grand elder"

"We've been together for months and you only tell me this right now?..."

Mary pouted when she heard this and retorted in a somewhat angry tone

"....I've already told you all that but you were reading a book and nodded continuously...tsk tsk!"

Arthur pretended to not hear that and turned to look at the old man who was still staring at him maliciously but he didn't dare attack for some odd reason.

He just killed more than a hundred disciples but unfortunately, they were unrelated to that matter, they can only blame their bad luck for picking the wrong side or being born in the wrong family.

Actually, every disciple or person in the clan is surnamed Ma except very very few individuals who were recruited, there were some talented ones who became disciples and others who lived normal lives in the villages.

".. You told me this was the Headquarters, then there are no females disciples?"

Mary was startled before replying in an embarrassed manner

".. Um... I forgot to tell you... there is two headquarters, one for the female area and the other for the male area, this one should be for the males, and no one from each area is allowed to go to the other except in few occasions if they break this rule they will be heavily punished..."

Arthur could no longer bother with her, it's not like he can do anything to her since he was in the wrong area, he will go to the female area, he only needed Sonia to tell him who gave that order, and if she refuses then she'll just die, easy peasy.

"Who are you?"

The old man finally decided to talk after some thorough thought, he didn't have the guts to attack recklessly, he was confident a minute ago but now he was not, after what happened, how could he be so?

Arthur laughed yet again and replied

"I'll let you guess"

Just as he said that he rushed at the old man, however, this time, he didn't his lightning form nor did he use his fullest speed as he wanted to see how strong a LVL 729 person can be.

The old man was shocked by this but soon regained at his senses and took a defensive stance.

Arthur already knew this clan was a clan for martial artists and they rarely used magic so he was curious about their way of fightning.

When he was very close to the old man and about to kick, he saw a green aura envelop the old man's body as if it was a shield.

Arthur possessed hundreds of corpses, be it beasts, monsters or people, so he gained all their fighting experience, instincts or whatever it was they excelled at, so even though he never fought in his previous life, his fighting is akin to an expert, it was beyond perfect, flawless and fast.

He controlled his strength and punched the man on his crossed arms, he already talked with Loli and came to know that when attacking, if he thought of an accurate number of strength points then it will be used.

For example, if he thought of 10.000 strength then that attack would only contain that amount of strength, it was similar to unconsciously lowering his strength but doing that will only lower it to a random number, it may be too weak or too strong, so doing this was really useful.

Of course, not everyone could do that, she told him that it was a unique trait of a parasite and others cannot do that, Lucy would always try to control her strength but she would fail on certain occasions, like against that Bishop for example when she shattered almost all his bones with a simple kick.

The punch landed on the old man, however, he was only pushed back a meter or so, he looked surprised for a second but his fear disappeared because if Arthur was only thing strong then it was no problem to face him, he was only fearful of the opponent being incredibly strong and beyond his league.

With his confidence back up, he didn't waste time as he dashed at Arthur in a weird manner, everytime his foot touched the ground, he seemed to blur for a split second, it was weird and his speed was fast too, unfortunately his enemy was Arthur so he already ran out of the luck the moment he met with him.

Arthur excitedly punched again at the old man when he saw him come at him, he enjoyed fighting like this but it's too bad he was only using so little of power, if he used all of it, a single sword slash from Makaze would be enough.

Actually, the old man was not that weak, Arthur guessed his stats to be around 50 to 60k, close to the dragon but having the same stats doesn't mean being equal in strength, there was still skills and other things that played a huge role in a fight.

Surprisingly, the old man used a palm to attack Arthur, the palm turned into golden colour and emitted a bit of pressure, even Arthur couldn't guess what that attribute is, and honestly, he was stunned by its power, it was seriously no joke and would have hurt him if he was him from back then, before he fought Yamak.

The old man who was expecting his palm to heavily injure Arthur was in disbelief as he saw the palm striking at the enemy's incoming punch, however, nothing happened, he was pushed back yet again in the same manner.

Just like that, the old man continued to strike again and again, but to no avail, he was blocked by simple attacks from his enemy, even after 10 minutes he couldn't do anything and his confidence shattered, it was obvious that Arthur was playing with him.

Some disciples came but only watched with awe at the strange fight, it was one-sided and the old man was panting heavily, although Arthur didn't directly injure him, he increased the strength of the punch in each attack so the old man had some bruises in his body, it was not life-threatening or even regarded as a serious injury but it would surely be a disadvantage in a fight.

After an exchange, Arthur backed away some steps and cheerfully said

"Ha ha ha, well I had fun fighting you, if you properly apologize then I can consider living you alive"

What Arthur didn't like his arrogance, when he saw the old man leave previously and act high and mighty, he didn't like that but after fighting, he discovered a lot of new things, like the strange mouvement he used or the attacks he displayed so he decided to forgive him and be merciful for one, after all, he just slaughtered a lot of disciples just earlier.

Arthur can never be considered kind or a good person, he is sometimes merciful or kind and some other times evil and acts like a psychopath, that's just his nature, he acts kind only towards people who deserve it as he apparently learned that the hard way.

The old man was breathing heavily, he knew he stood no chance against this man so he said in an apologetic tone

"...This old man was foolish, I should not have acted rashly.. welcome to the Ma Clan"

Although it's shameful to say that to someone who just invaded their clan and slaughtered disciples, he threw away his face and decided to hang on to his life, after all, it was more precious for him.

Arthur merely nodded at him while smiling then turned to look at Mary and asked

"Where is the female area?"

Mary was now calm as after some pondering she managed to convince herself that Arthur is way stronger than she originally thought.

"It should be several kilometers in that way.."

She then pointed to the North with her hand.

"Very well, let's go then"

Mary had already jumped back on the big black wolf and was soon followed by Arthur, then they disappeared into a blue lightning, even the stunned old man could barely see it and was more and more afraid, he broke out in cold sweat and praised himself for apologizing or else he would have died just like that.

...

Several kilometres can be crossed in a short time by Astrith and yet again there were some disciples following them as they felt something was suspicious and caught a glimpse of the lightning but after a certain boundary, the males disciples stopped chasing and went back from where they came from, invader or not, they didn't dare go to the female area as it was prohibited.

Arthur also this but didn't think much of it, furthermore, contrary to the male area, the female area seemed more peaceful and with fewer disciples, they only encountered a dozen at best but like earlier, they ignored them and headed toward the second pagoda which was not seen earlier by Arthur because of the trees and the long distance.

This pagoda seemed very similar to the last one, practically the same except it had a different color, this one was jet black with dark red bricks on the roof, making it look domineering.

The Pagoda was approximately 20 kilometers away from the first one and there was a somewhat large bridge separating the two areas.

When Arthur and the others were just a kilometer or so away from the pagoda, they were stopped but an unexpected thing.

While Astrith was dashing through the trees in an incredible speed, a shadow suddenly appeared out of nowhere and attacked them, the attacker seemed to be able to see Astrith, a golden slash came out of nowhere and headed straight at Astrith.

Arthur, who was leisurely observing the surroundings was startled by this, he didn't expect someone to be able to see Astrith, much less attack him with precision.

A barrier made from Eclipse Magic was created in a flash and blocked that incoming golden slash, however, Arthur didn't expect the opponent to rush at behind him and take Mary then back away.

Astrith stopped and stared maliciously at the figure in front of him, as for Arthur, he was startled as the enemy seemed to be not bad, his speed was good but not as good at him, however, this geezer in front of him seemed to be strong, that's for sure.

Ma Wuji(Human) : LVL 1074

'hmm' Even after his LVL he was not astonished, just from the LVL of that section chief, he expected people with high LVLS but LVL didn't mean strength, look at him, just LVL 433 but his strength is many many times stronger than what a normal LVL400 person would have.

..

Saly has woken up since earlier but she didn't say anything, she was surprised by all what happened by she didn't cry or feel afraid, for her, Lucy and Arthur were the strongest.

Lucy sat next to the little girl and gently rubbed her head, she liked how this girl is obedient and just watched from behind silently without asking any questions.

..

Mary was still trying to comprehend what just happened, a second ago she was on Astrith and the other she was being held by an old man, when she lifted her head she immediately recognized him as he was Sonia's grandfather, one of the few male people who can stay at the female area.

"Child, are you okay?"

The old man's voice was full of vigor and energy as if it was a young man speaking, he knew Mary as she was Sonia's friend from childhood and she came a few times so he recognized her appearance, but he thought she was held captive and forced to lead these people in here.

"Ehh..Uncle Wuji"

Wuji smiled at Mary then turned his head to look at the 'enemies', he was sure of deductions, after all, it couldn't be anything but that, however, after much look at Arthur and Lucy, he seemed to have thought of something but soon rejected that idea.

The high ranked people in the Ma Clan obviously knew about Arthur and Lucy, even Wuji but they were dead, so seeing those people, he first thought it was them but soon rejected that as it was practically impossible.

Amused, Arthur looked at the old man and had the urge to fight him, he wanted to go all out against someone, although it may not be this old man, but if there are more people like him then his wish will not be impossible to realize which made him a bit happy.

"Who are you?"

The old man asked the usual question, and Arthur could not help but burst out in laughter.

"Ha ha ha, you people only know to say that question or what? I'm here looking for Sonia~~"

The old man was startled when he heard that, Sonia was not known to be from the Ma clan and only very few people knew about that so when he heard a stranger say that, how could he not feel surprised?

"I'm sorry, there is no 'Sonia' in here."

Even hearing this, Arthur continued smirking at the old man while saying

"That's not what the person you're holding told me."

Then Arthur stared at Mary who stabilized herself and stood up.

Seeing his piercing gaze, Mary knew he was signaling her to clear things up or else he wouldn't mind adding another victim.

"U-Uncle Wuji... t-they are 'them'.... Arthur and Lucy"

Wuji was seriously dumbstruck right now, Mary didn't have any reason to lie to him, however, what she said was unreasonable as Arthur and Lucy were dead from the cannon blast.

He thoroughly looked at the couple and focused and their appearances, by what he previously knew, they indeed looked exactly like the descriptions he got on them, what made them stand out even more were those blood red eyes.

"How is that possible... weren't they dead?"

He seemed to be directing his question to Arthur and Lucy, expecting an answer.

"Unfortunately for you, we survived, of course, no thanks for you guys, now then.... how about you tell me OR guide me to where Sonia is, or I won't be polite anymore"

Receiving no answer, Wuji was discontented but he didn't show it, he stared at Arthur angrily seemingly not liking his bossy attitude and retorted

"No matter what happened, I'm not going to take you where she is, if you leave right now you may keep your life, you and your comrades"

He didn't know what exactly happened, but he didn't want to kill people so he gave them a way out, even though these were people the clan wanted to kill, he wouldn't do it as it was complicated but that doesn't mean he will let them act like this in his clan.

Mary tugged the old man's sleeve and said

"Uncle Wuji, don't worry, they only came here to investigate who gave that 'order' they promised not to hurt big sister."

Even after hearing her, Wuji showed no reaction and coldly said to Arthur

"Please now, or else the consequenc.."

Before he could even finish, Arthur teleported in front of him and kicked his abdomen with his knee, he only lowered his strength by half, even so, the old man was sent flying like a rocket smashing to several trees until he stopped 100 meters from his previous position.

he was kneeling and coughed several mouthfuls of blood, if he wasn't already on alert and covered his body with Qi, the damage would have been more serious, fortunately, he was a cautious person and was always on guard against any enemies.

Nevertheless, this attack made him completely surprised and fearful from Arthur, a year or so ago, he wasn't this strong, his LVL was known to be 98 but due to special reasons, he had to be killed, as for Lucy, there were unique circumstances too.

That attack managed to injure him a bit, some of his bones were broken but it was not that serious, he still could fight but decided against it, he was wise enough to see the difference, he couldn't even see Arthur rush at him, he just appeared suddenly, so he concluded it was teleportation, as Arthur was known to be able to teleport freely which was very troublesome.

Fortunately, there was the clan master who was very powerful, she hopefully can take care of this man, that's what Wuji thought so for the time being, he decided to cooperate with this man.

He walked toward Arthur and said

"I'll guide you to Sonia, since Mary said you promised not to hurt my granddaughter then I hope you hold your promise, you're a man after all.."

Wuji could only say that and head toward the pagoda expecting Arthur to follow, but deep inside him, he hoped the clan master notice what happened and come as she was currently in the clan.

"That's the way I like it, Sir Wuji, you are indeed a wise person, ha ha ha"

Arthur then slowly followed the old man without riding Astrith.

The lightning beast soon followed closely behind Arthur while being full alert again ambushes like earlier.

After walking for a couple of minutes, they were already in a similar yard in front of the Pagoda, there were already several female disciples following closely as they saw the strangers heading to the pagoda with Wuji guiding them.

..

Just when Arthur was calmly following the old man, something sudden happened, first thing Arthur heard was Loli shouting

RUN! QUICKLY RUN!!!

However, it was too late as black chains appeared from the ground and in a split second covered Arthur limbs and waist, they bound him onto the ground, they emanated black fog and tightly held Arthur, you could even hear the bones shattering.

To this sudden turn of events, Arthur was surprised but not scared, the pain was agonizing for other people and even for him but he didn't shout as he experienced far worse than this, however, he couldn't help but clench his teeth as it was really painful, he was confused as to why this would happen, he didn't sense anything and was sure it was not someone from the clan, after all, the clan is for martial artists, so this made him confused as to what those chains are.

Very soon, the chains pressed harder on his body, shattering every existing bone and even blood flowed endlessly, a thicker chain came out from the ground and immediately struck him at his chest without any notice, which made him finally roar and shout from pain.

It seemed this chain was sucking the life out of him and touched his soul, this pain was many times worse than physical pain and soon his cries resounded in all the yard.

Lucy was already rushing at him but she was interrupted when she heard Arthur shout at her

"D-DDDon't! Sta------ay back! T-these chains are nnn-n-ot norma-l AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHH!"

The shouts never ceased to get louder and even Saly was worried for Arthur as she saw him scream like that, however, she was stopped by Astrith who backed away, he could feel the ominous feeling from the chains and unconsciously stepped back.

Lucy also reluctantly stood away however her face was full of worry as she saw him like that, she knew how much strong he is and that he rarely scream from pain like that, the only time she heard him scream like that is when his body was in the process of being created, so she couldn't help but feel anxious.

Killing intent emanated from her as she looked at Wuji who was nor far away, for her the only possible cause of these chains is him, but to her surprise, even the old man was looking at Arthur with surprise and disbelief as he couldn't comprehend what happened.

As Arthur screamed from the pain, notifications began to come one after another

RUN! YOU MUST RUN AWAY FROM IT!!

System malfunctioning........System Shutdown.......

System 'Loli' has been forcefully sealed for breaking rule number 102

Installing new system.......

Just at that moment, a crack in the air appeared and a silhouette gracefully came out of it, Arthur who was held on the ground was not able to see her until she came near him...

........