"At least you came back in one piece. Next time, don't try to investigate the enemies when you're not sure about their exact power, it'll only end badly, in your case… I think you've understood that the hard way."

Arthur's words weren't directed to Jackob but to Anastassia, who was keeping her silence while nodding her head, clearly regretting her past decisions.

"Anyways, the enemy on the East can wait, I have a lot of preparations and the Divine Beasts are much more threatening than an evil cult."

"Oh yeah, what are we going to do about the catastrophe?"

Jackob was also anxious about the incoming doom, he wasn't powerful enough to defend against them, so was Anastassia, so they put the meeting about this topic on hold until Arthur came for they were certain he will since it's such an important matter.

"The problem is that we don't know where they'll strike, all the leading factions all over Astria are anxious, some even started evacuating to other worlds."(Anatassia)

"They'll only attack the Human Continent, I'm sure of that."

"The Human Continent? What about the rest? How did you know they'll only at that the central one?"

Jackob was confused, Arthur declared that with certainty but he didn't fully believe it since there are no records about techniques that allow people to predict where these monsters will attack.

"You don't need to know how I did it, you need to focus on evacuating the inhabitants from that area, just disperse them all over Astria, even to the North since the Demon Lord agreed to accommodate them."

"The demons? They'll surely go back on their words and slaughter all of them! Hmpf!"

Anastassia wasn't pleased since she hates Demons, she didn't like the idea of cooperating with them, especially with their leader. Although she has a decent relationship with Taliya, it didn't mean she has a good opinion about the maid's whole race, after all, the war between the two races has been ongoing for a long time until it was stopped some time ago, thanks to none other than Arthur.

Actually, with her current power and the army of the sect, finishing the demons isn't a big deal. The four bone dragons along with the minotaur will be enough to create havoc inside the imperial city, killing the Demon Lord isn't hard too, nonetheless, she restrained herself and continued taking care of the Arthur and Lucy's sect.

There are an enormous amount of disciples, they are even separated in factions and there are several competitions about them but it isn't too major, she often lets the appointed elders of the sect to take care of it and if it gets too out of hand, Jackob will just go as he is very popular amongst the populace.

"Stop dawdling over small things, we can't bring every inhabitant of the central continent to our sect, the number is just too big, and they can't go to the East because of that evil cult, so they only have two choices. Moreover, there are many vast lands in the North that are inhabited, it's a perfect place for these refugees."

"Then, Boss, are we fighting against the Divine Beasts?"

"We? There is no we, you do your job and leave them to me, I'll deal with these invaders."

Jackob didn't insist for he knew his strength wasn't enough to help Arthur, as for Anastassia, she also maintained her silence but she stared at him with a strange look.

The meeting didn't last for long, after talking for a little while, all of them, except Arthur and Lissandra, left. The slender woman was staring at Arthur with a peculiar gaze

"You're not their match, you know."

"We would never know until we try, would we?"

With her arms crossed and a serious look, not afraid of Arthur anymore, she retorted

"It's not a matter of trying, it's a fact. To defeat the four Divine Beasts isn't as simple as defeating strong entities, it's much more difficult and complicated. The only reason the high Realms easily manage to kill the beasts is because they have too many powerful individuals, they rely on the sheer quantity of experts they have."

"So, what are you suggesting?"

"Simple, get away from Astria. You can go to the Underworld, it's much safer and the threat of the Divine Beast isn't big, we have the king of the Abyss, after all."

"Fleeing is not an option for me, that's not how I do things. If you have any information about the Divine Beasts then I'm all ears, if not then I'm leaving."

"I spent countless years researching the Divine Beasts, their appearance, strength and son on. I'm almost ten thousand years old and on the day of my birth, the first catastrophe occurred, many family members died so I wanted to get revenge, which is part of the reason I wanted to acquire more parts of the Dark Magic, the power you wield.

I don't know where it came from or who created it, but Dark Magic is more powerful than you could ever manage. It isn't something that could be used by any person, in fact, it chooses its host and not the other way around, much like those special Soul Weapons. More than two hundred years ago, I've found a secret shelter in the Underworld, it's through it that I've come to know about Dark Magic and how to acquire it. I have read ancient notes that indicated the presence of this magic in ancient wars, it even appeared during the war against the titans, the problem is, it is difficult to wield and almost impossible to master. Many of my subordinates spent dozens of years yet were only able to conjure simple weapons that would crumble in a short time, I was the only one that managed to use it normally, more or less.

So I've concluded that it cannot be passed down to others, however, I continued my experiments as I believed that it needed the right host, someone with perfect compatibility with it."

Although the topic was interesting since it was about his Dark Magic, Arthur didn't want to hear this from her to he interrupted and said

"I need details about the beasts, not my Dark Magic."

Lissandra let out a long sigh and continued

"Use Dark Magic, that's the only way you can defeat the Divine Beasts. No matter your other trump cards, or powerful sword techniques, those won't even scratch them, much less kill them. Relying on physical attacks is only a waste of time and effort, it'll lead to nothing but defeat. The defense of the Black Turtle is impenetrable, the speed of the White Tiger is unprecedented, the flames of the Vermillion Bird are unstoppable and the soul attacks of the Azure Dragon are frightening, if you exclude its dragon breath, that is. Your Dark Magic becomes stronger the angrier you are, basically, you need to be emotionally unstable. Sure, it is strong if you're calm but it's several times stronger if you're enraged, angry, etc…"

"And why is it that only Dark Magic will hurt them?"

"Dark Magic has a bit of Darkness Attribute in it so it counters the bird's flame if it is used properly, it also has strong penetrative strength, so it is also doable to hurt the turtle shell if it's hit at the right time and place. The problem is the tiger and the dragon, they are both fast and versatile."

"What you said isn't that convincing but I'll take that in mind. Although I still haven't forgiven you, your help is much appreciated."

Arthur left right after, leaving Lissandra alone, the woman clutched a pendant that was hanging on her neck and closed her eyes as if she was praying…