The group didn't spend much time planning everything. The three men will deal with the monster or plant and the two women will provide support. Lucy's sister will approach the pond and snatch the Golden Numbra while also luring out whatever was protecting it.

As for Lucy and Arthur, they were instructed to stay at the back so they did, obediently. In fact, the husband and wife already knew what's hiding under the pond.

It was a large alligator with blue skin, it seemed threatening but it wasn't particularly strong. At best, it was a Sovereign Beast. One strike from either of the couple could finish it.

Lucy wanted something bad to happen so she could witness her sister's real prowess which is why she instructed Arthur to act and cause trouble. What better thing to cause trouble than his newest familiar, Innocence.

Although the cooldown for summoning it is kind of long, it was still powerful and it should force the woman to personally act lest they all get massacred.

There is a chance that he'll be discovered by her if he summons Innocence but only if she focuses all her attention on him. The current disparity between them is just too large for now, at least in terms of senses.

Lucy's sister was indeed powerful even when she's weakened but her Divine Sense could, at most, stretch for five hundred meters whereas this insignificant little pond is much deeper than the other might think.

With Jace's signal, the silver-haired woman, who still hasn't introduced herself, walked up to the pond and flew to Golden Numbra.

Just as she was about to snatch it, water splashed and a huge blue alligator came from below, its mouth wide open, ready to devour her.

Unfortunately, its sharp teeth and big mouth couldn't touch her body, which bypassed her as if she was a ghost.

'It's a bit like the Tiger's ability but I'm sure I can touch her with Dark Magic even if she's in that form.'

The Dark Void Physique may allow her to travel through weapons and techniques but Dark Magic is purely made of emotions so it's possible to hurt her.

His sky-blue eye focused on the retreating woman, who seemed pretty relaxed and unafraid of the enraged alligator, which swam toward her with lightning speed.

Jace and his two companions jumped in front of the woman, wielding their weird gauntlets, they punched the five-meter long alligator.

Its scales were pretty tough but they were still damaged by their monstrous punches. All they did was punch the alligator but it was more than effective. Their bodies were sturdy and even when they were hit by the monster's tail or body, they remained unscathed. Their bodies emitted some white steam as their muscles bulged and their strength increased.

'Are you ready?'

'Always.'

Arthur replied to Lucy as his left hand emitted an unnoticeable light that entered the ground beneath him and headed toward the pond.

The alligator, albeit strong, wasn't the match for the three men and the two women, who would hit him with their fire arrows. It was quite an efficient combinations, something the monster wasn't able to handle as it succumbed to its injuries after five minutes.

Jace celebrating their flawless victory, suddenly turned toward the pond and raised his hands as a white tentacle-like thing hit his body, sending him flying dozens of meters. His companions weren't spared as they were hit simultaneously, suffering the same fate.

They weren't dead or heavily injured but the hit was strong enough to cause them to throw up some blood, especially the weaker one, Abid.

Even the silver-haired woman was startled as she jumped in front of the humongous beast that just appeared from within the pond. She couldn't even sense its presence.

She stared at the monstrous thing with a frown, clearly disgusted by its appearance. Innocence was truly grotesque and ugly, it didn't have any eyes, only a large mouth and had hands instead of feet.

It seemed a bit different than the one Arthur and Lucy fought, but it was still hideous.

With pales faces and shaking bodies, Arthur and Lucy slowly backed away only for the new monster to ignore the human in front of it and focus on the siblings, who became terrified once Innocence turned toward them.

Obviously, this was but an act orchestrated by Arthur, who ordered Innocence to behave like this. He wanted to force the woman's hand and see how she'll act.

Will she protect them or flee? The answer shall be revealed soon enough.

Innocence banged its hand on the ground, causing it to violently shake and split in two. The two siblings hastily backed away and avoided being sucked into the bottomless abyss.

Just as Innocence was about to engage with his tentacles, it was stopped as a silver-spear cut three of its tentacles.

Jace and his comrades followed with their punches, ganging up on Innocence from all sides yet even after suffering continuous minor and heavy injuries, a bright white light covered the monsters, instantly healing everything and even recovering its lost tentacles.

Arthur, who was witnessing this from afar, suddenly clutched his chest and knelt on the ground. An unimaginable was coming from heart, more precisely, the ARK in his consciousness.

His actions surprised Lucy, who ignored the ongoing fight and said

"What's wrong? Arthur!"

Hear cries were left unanswered as Arthur wasn't able to reply. The pain was agonizing, rendering unable to move or talk. He could only hold his chest tightly and crouch on the ground.

Inside his consciousness, Arthur called out his copy, who remained silent.

"Claud! What's happening?! Claud!"

No matter how much he tried to enter the ARK or called for Claud, Arthur was ignored, having to deal with the pain himself.

Fortunately, the pain didn't last long, only a minute or so but it was still a strange occurrence. Arthur leaned on Lucy as he took deep breathes, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart.

"What happened?"

Lucy asked the silent Arthur, who put his hand on his heart and replied

"I don't know… I just feel sad… and lost."

Why he was having such feelings was an enigma but it certainly had to do with the ARK as it seemed to be the source.

The couple backed away to a safe distance and totally ignored the fight between their group and Innocence, which wouldn't die even after having its head pierced by the woman's silver spear.

After healing itself for five successive times, it was finally exhausted so Arthur sneakily ordered it to dive into the pound and disappear. The silver-haired woman tried to stop it but couldn't, only letting go after landing one final yet fatal stab to it, which actually managed to kill the hideous monster.

Except for the silver-haired woman, Jace and his companions were injured, especially Artid, who had his arm bent in a weird way. As for the two women, they were completely safe as they stayed at the back, in a place Innocence couldn't reach.

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

Back on Astria, South of the Western Continent, the undead numbers were ballooning thanks to Anastassia, who would come every day to summon more of these rotting creatures.

As she was busy using the pendant Arthur gave her to summon more skeletons and bone dragons, an unknown presence was watching what's happening from behind the clouds.

With one hand rubbing his chin, he curiously looked at the millions of undead. He wore a jet black robe and his skin's color was like a corpse's. His face was wrinkled and his hair was grey, clearly from old age. This old man was contemplating the situation with an interested expression.

"I haven't seen such a sight in years…"

He shifted his gaze to Anastassia and nodded his head repeatedly, however, it was unknown what he was thinking. After a long while, the old man was about to descend only to suddenly halt and look to the front, where a silhouette appeared.

A few seconds later, the silhouette became much clearer. Clad in dark armor and a thick black sword on his back, it was none other than Leiu, the Nameless Knight.

"For the Nameless Knight to personally come to me, I wonder what the occasion is."

The old man chuckled, totally unperturbed or unafraid of the knight.

"We're old acquaintances so… go back while I am still politely asking."

The old man grinned and glanced at the land of death below before staring back at the pair of chilling eyes behind the dark helmet

"You know full well that I cannot tolerate the existence of so much undead, it goes against the natural laws."

"It's not like you're the one who'll suffer the consequences so let it go."

"Ohohoho" the old man kept chuckling before retorting "No can do."

A soft sigh escaped the young man's mouth. He seemed to have given up on negotiating.

"Is that helplessness I sense? Are you finally going to make a move against me, Death?"

Contrary to the Death's expectations, Leiu shook his head and retorted

"I've brought a much more suitable person."

He waved his hand and turned around before saying

"You lived for a long, long time so you must know me very well and know what I'm capable of. If I personally make move, I'll erase you and all of your petty reapers. Don't forget who killed the previous death."

Just as he disappeared, another person appeared in his a place, a woman, to be precise. A woman with a dark-hair a skin color similar to the old man's. In fact, they were the same thing, only their appearances are different.

As he gazed at the woman, the old man was totally dumbstruck. He remained speechless for half a minute before clearing his throat and mumbling something to himself.

He glanced at the red-haired woman summoning undead below then at the woman before him before understanding everything.

"I see. My eyes indeed didn't fail me."

The woman politely bowed to the old man before speaking

"Master, it is good to see you."

As he listened to her, the old man laughed and said

"You seem to have been Death for a long time which means you're from a faraway future."

*****