"Hohoho, it is a pleasure to meet Miss Lucy again."

The laziness of the old man laughed as he laughed heartily and followed both Lucy and Arthur into the villa. His focus was on Arthur, who was also wary and curious about Sloth.

His copy repeatedly told him that Sloth is extremely strong and one of the oldest beings in the omniverse. Though, it's a mystery why he's working for the System when he belongs to the Heaven and Hell Universe and Arthur wasn't going to pry on that. Seeing as how Lucy treated him with respect, it shows how strong he is.

He didn't seem to carry any hostile or malicious intentions so Arthur didn't act arrogantly or cold toward this elder.

"This place is surely more comfortable than the rest. Good for you good for you!"

Snory praised the luxurious and spacious villa as he sat on the sofa and made himself comfortable. Although he merely glanced at the furniture and such, that doesn't mean he didn't get to sense the whole place with cultivation like his.

Silence prevailed the atmosphere for a moment before the old man spoke again

"In my life, never did I think I would meet another person who uses Dark Magic."

This statement obviously startled both of them. Arthur was hiding his powers and even his aura was completely concealed. The Ethereal state was also activated, which diminished the chilling and ominous aura usually unleashed by the Dark Magic in or the Dark-Star Technique.

Their surprise only lasted a moment. Arthur already knew that Zodiak must have been a very powerful figure and since Sloth is old, he surely must have met him or at least known about him.

"I assume Senior met Zodiak in the past?"

It was a rare chance to know a bit more detail about Zodiak's life so Arthur unhesitantly asked Sloth, who didn't seem to mind his question as he chuckled while answering

"Met? I've fought him when he was in his prime."

As he said that, the old man got up and removed part of his rugged yellow shirt to show a hideous scare that covered half of the left part of his chest. It resembled the scar caused by fire except this one was jet black thus making it looks way uglier.

"Hohohoho we nearly killed each other but don't worry, it was all in the past and I won't attack you just because you're his successor... sort of."

Arthur tensed up at first but all his short-lived worries soon vanished as Sloth turned out to be a person who didn't hold grudges against 'relatives' of his past enemies.

The old man soon sat again and grinned as he glanced between Lucy and Arthur.

"Zodiak was powerful but that was all. He was alone and didn't have an army like most of his enemies. Moreover, he was different from you, he only had Dark Magic and nothing else. Put simply, he was unable to use any other Magic, whether it's with Nether Energy, Mana, Qi or any other type of Energy. Whereas you are more special. I can sense the Hell's flames within you, Void Magic and above all, Dark Magic. You are a dangerous being and if you were not Miss Lucy's husband, I would not have allowed you to remain on Earth."

Arthur frowned and retorted

"Although I'm not human, I'm not purposely trying to harm this planet. Why would I be more dangerous than my wife? We're equally strong."

"That is indeed true. On the exterior, both of you are perhaps equal but the inside is different. She's as calm as water and her consciousness is clear and stable, however, yours is as dark as night and is more dangerous than you might think."

This only confused Arthur more so he asked again

"I'm not sure what Senior is talking about. Would you mind explaining?"

"I cannot explain it in words. I'm only saying what I'm seeing. You are like a time bomb, ready to explode and engulf everything around it. Check your mental state, boy."

Without letting Arthur talk, Sloth resumed

"And for peace on earth to continue, I cannot let you rampage in here if your mental state ever goes berser-"

Arthur cut him off while retorting

"Senior, my mental state is stable and I don't think I'm suffering from any problems."

Hearing this, the old man laughed and mocked

"That's exactly what a mentally ill person would say. Boy, you can face your fate or defy it but you can't deny it. Just remember, if you go out of control, I'll be forced to interfere and end your life… and Miss Lucy, please don't look at me like that. I'm just doing my job and we both know that when that time comes, even you, can't stop me. Well then, I said what needs to be said so I'll excuse myself. I wish you both a good day."

Sloth silently disappeared from their living room and both of them were unable to sense him. Arthur remained absent-minded for a while before he snapped out of it.

He turned to look at Lucy, who was holding his hand and staring back at him with a resolute expression.

"I, I can't access my consciousness… it's like the connection is cut off. The same thing with the ARK."

Arthur tried entering his consciousness but to no avail. He didn't feel particularly weak or sick, nonetheless, he started believing Snory's words.

"Don't worry, I'm here. I don't think you're ill, you're only mentally exhausted due to all that happened the last few days. Perhaps you should rest a bit and schedule your revenge a bit later, what do you think?"

Lucy's hand gently caressed his chin as she spoke. In response, Arthur smiled and nodded his head, agreeing immediately.

He didn't know what's wrong with him but the best thing to do now is meditate and clear his mind of any accumulated stress, even if it was just a tiny bit.

Actually, he was relieved and even happy since he came to Earth but his inability to contact his copy and enter his consciousness is surely caused by something. Although Sloth refused to say what the problem exactly is and only accused him of being mentally ill, that doesn't mean he'll blindly believe it. He just thought that Snory's words contained some truthfulness in them.

*************

Astria, Itas Continent.

A few hundred meters away from the thick World Tree stood a floating figure. He gazed at the gigantic tree with surprise before he started laughing loudly.

"Hahahaahah to think you would end up here. Last time I saw you, you were nothing but a seed. I wonder what the angels would do if they discovered your existen-"

Before he could even finish, overwhelming shockwaves were unleashed from all direction, trying to crush him. What followed were vines larger than even dragons, they were like falling mountains which tried to pulverize the invader.

Unfortunately, both the shockwaves and vines were useless as they didn't even manage to injure or push the man even half a centimeter.

As he patted the dust off his clothes with a large grin on his face, he added

"Ahh come on, I'm not a snitch."

After a long silence, the robotic voice of the World Tree resounded inside the man's head

"… what do you want?"

"See… I'm pretty bored after a certain someone kicked me all the way here. So I'm searching for some fun guys to battle hmmm like that crazy old man who brought you here. Last time we fought, he escaped and left me itching for more action."

The weirdly-dressed man cracked his knuckles and waited for the tree to reply

"… He died a long time ago."

The man didn't see surprised, he just sighed and glanced at his surroundings before his pupils focused on the main trunk of the World Tree. For a while, he remained silent before he started repeatedly nodding his head

"Then tell me who caused that Sword Slash engraved on you. It has a bit of Sword Insight lingering it so I presume it's a Sword Saint hahahah been a while since I fought one!"

"… He also died."

This time, the man didn't believe it as he retorted

"Bullshit! If he died then this tiny bit of Sword Insight would have disappeared! I ain't leaving if you don't TELL me where he is!"