Somewhere on Astria, precisely inside a cave illuminated by the torch of a frail-looking woman. She had a thin body, pale skin, and long hair. She slowly raised her torch to see the nearby walls, which had weird paintings. This woman was none other than Lissandra, who disappeared from The MoonStar Sect without anyone's notice.

With her mortal body and extremely weak physique, she ventured into old places and followed many clues until she reached this strange cave.

She followed the paintings, one by one. Her expressionless face experienced a change as she saw the rise of a sect, a prosperous city. The symbol above the sect indicated that it was Arthur and Lucy's sect.

The woman's eyes narrowed as she shifted her attention to the next painting, which depicted an undying army dominating the land.

Right next to that, there was a big tree that covered the whole wall, however, it was being attacked by winged-creatures. Lissandra quickly came to know the end of this tree, which was burned down until it became ashes.

A frown appeared on her delicate face as she hesitantly turned her head toward the last painting. It showed a man wrapped in darkness, ripping a scroll larger than himself.

'Angels are invading Astria?

The events on the walls were consecutive, apparently, however, only the first one occurred as far as Lissandra is aware. So she still has time to change the course of things.

If the World Tree were to be discovered by the Angels, it would condemn all of Astria. Yes, she sinned in the past and did many evil things. However, she is trying her best to change despite being a mortal. The reason she started this adventure of hers is because she was curious, very curious.

Astria was never mentioned in any records of the Underworld or any other world, it's like it never existed. That is very strange, even if it's a remote or secret world, it's bound to be mentioned at least once yet Astria was like a ghost.

There are some that stumble upon it by chance but that's just luck, or so thought Lissandra.

'Zodiak, the World Tree, Arthur. Why did they end up here? Just what is this place?'

With the torch still in hand, she marched deeper into the cave, planning to get her answers.

*****

West of Astria, in the High Tower of the MoonStar Sect. Delia finally broke through to the Sovereign Realm. The book Arthur handed to her was more than enough to allow her to advance to the next Realm. Her graceful figure left the room as she breathed some fresh air while showing a satisfied smile.

She stretched her limbs and was about to check what the others are doing only for a bright light to envelop her and drag her across time and space.

A few minutes later, Delia found herself in a spacious white hall. The rich amount of Light Energy indicated that it's not a normal place. After careful observation, Delia knew where she were.

It was the Glory Hall situated at the HQ of the Holy Dominion. Her rank wasn't that high so she never got to come here. While gulping some saliva, she slowly turned her head only to see a gentle-looking old man with a long white beard and two women behind him.

"Thanks to your breakthrough, we were able to snatch you from his hands."

Unable to understand his words, Delia tilted his head in confusion:

"Since the moment you were captured by Zodiak's magic, we were unable to locate you, much less save you. Your breakthrough greatly weakened his Dark Magic thus we were able to snatch you before it automatically retaliates."

Delia nodded her head as she understood the gist of it but couldn't think straight as things evolved to this stage. The old man before her was one of the high-rankers in the Holy Echelon, meaning he didn't belong to the Dominion's army but he still boasted unimaginable strength.

She bowed respectfully toward the old man and said:

"I thank Cardinal Zeves."

The old man waved his hand while kindly smiling.

"Although we're sure it's not Zodiak, it's still someone capable of using Dark Magic and this cannot continue any longer. We've located him and sent a small group to hold him before we determine his weakness. This also falls on you, you've been captured by him for a few years so you must know some things about him, yes?"

Delia sucked a deep breath as she heard the old man say that they captured him. She was aware of his abilities and how fast he grows so most likely, the group sent to slow him down will be annihilated shortly. At first, she was enemies with Arthur but they soon became friends, especially her relationship with Lucy, who treated her like a family member.

Nevertheless, if she tried to lie to this Cardinal, she'ss be discovered. Left with no choice, she began telling him about Arthur but she left a lot of things unsaid, like his strong attacks or his ability to possess corpses. Though she talked for some time, she never mentioned Lucy, hoping that when they face Arthur, they won't be able to resist again another powerful foe.

While it's true she still had her beliefs and such, the emotions she currently felt left her conflicted. If not for Arthur, she wouldn't have broken through to the Sovereign Realm so betraying him like this didn't feel right.

"Please let me be part of this attack."

Delia begged the Cardinal, who was surprised at first but nodded his head as he thought she sought revenge. However, he still decided to send the two deacons behind him to accompany her. Furthermore, the two deacons were no jokes, they were both a God Monarch.

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

As she was much more talented than Arthur, Lucy decided to guide Jian Si, who was firmly opposed at first only to begrudgingly accept after she was beaten senseless by Lucy's kicks and punches. Cold Sword to believe that she couldn't beat Lucy with her sword in hand so Arthur obediently gave her the sword only for her to become a literal sandbag.

She couldn't even retaliate as Lucy vented her anger on her though she didn't really cause any heavy damage. Still, the girl groaned from pain and only returned to normal when Arthur used his Life magic to instantly heal her.

Whenever Jian Si went out of control when she's creating her sword using her energy, she would receive a whip from a normal stick. Since the stick was strengthened using Lucy's pure Mana, it hurt like hell.

Although it's rough and painful, this kind of trying turned out to be rather effective on Jian Si, who showed good results after merely a day.

As Lucy was busy monitoring the stubborn girl, Arthur who was in deep contemplation, suddenly opened his eye. He sensed something from his storage and after taking a certain crystal out of the ring, it emitted a blinding flash of light before shattering into countless pieces.

Lucy also noticed this and walked up to Arthur while saying

"That's…"

Arthur bitterly nodded his head. However, Lucy shook her head and softly smiled

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure she wouldn't betray us."

Despite her reassuring words, Arthur was still hesitating. He didn't know her like Lucy did which part of the reason he couldn't fully trust what she'll do in the future.

"I saw group of knights that belonged to the Holy Order in the capital. I think they picked up my trace.

A cold glint flashed across Lucy's eyes. She pondered for a moment before saying

"I can take care of them. They don't know about me so I'll be able to attack when they drop their guard."

Arthur showed an instant refusal as he retorted

"No can do. We still don't know their true power, others can be hiding elsewhere. We'll try to lay low and I'll not use Dark Magic… I just hope Makaze won't come back now, if I were to touch the blade; it'll complete its recovery and the burst of Dark Magic it'll unleash will alert the whole capital."

For now, there is no point going outside and exposing themselves, especially for Arthur, who not only has to worry about the Holy Dominion, but Athard too.

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

In the Crown Prince's office, Isadore was frowning as he read the new information he just received. This time, it was a mix of Arthur and Lucy. Wrath, who was lazing around like usual, picked up on Isadore's expression and asked

"What's wrong? I rarely see you react like that."

Isadore remained silent for a few seconds, tapping his finger on the table while deeply pondering about something.

"I never thought it'll be like this. A path is presented before me, make a friend and create an enemy, or stay out of this."

The middle-aged man rolled his eyes as he didn't know what the prince was talking about. He waved his hand and said

"Just stay out of this, less troubles!"

He was ignored by the blond-haired prince, who was in a dilemma.

"The White Specter Clan, is it? Do I inform them of their lost daughter's location or side with the unknown?"

Isadore closed his eyes and leaned on the chair while thinking to himself

'Ah! Arthur MoonStar, you're shrouded by many secrets. Your wife is just as special as you are, I can't say that you're not a perfect couple. Then again, you're being too cautious, it surely can't be just to not attract the attention of Lucy's clan… then why? What's making you so anxious?... wait!'

He abruptly got up from his chair and rampaged through some documents behind him. After a few minutes, he found what he needed. After carefully reading the contents over and over again, he grinned as he discovered something.

'The Holy Dominion isn't interested in the Space Dragon yet they dispatched a group of Holy Knights. 5 years ago, Rozak, a High Priest of the Holy Echelon was killed in the wasteland. The identity of the killer was unknown but the witnesses described the phenomena as ominous and horrifying. 'Encroaching Darkness that devoured all in its way', total annihilation of the area. An ancient magic that forces to the Holy Dominion to act like this… of course! How couldn't I think of it! He can use Dark Magic.'

Isadore turned around and gazed at the half-sleeping Wrath while asking

"In your opinion, what kind of person can wield the dark blade?"

Once he heard 'dark blade', Wrath jumped from his seat and became serious. He took a few seconds to think before replying

"I would say someone with a high affinity with the Darkness attribute. Evil Wind feeds on the emotion of its owner so a certain compatibility must be reached."

'Bingo!'

Isadore received the answer he was expecting. Everything suddenly became much clearer.