'What's going on?'

Arthur sat on the bed while staring at his Adventurer's card. It clearly showed that he was a parasite but why is he unable to possess people or use any of his abilities? He still has his memories and knowledge about some skills. For example, due to possessing countless corpses, he can play the piano, sing, dance, or fight without needing the skills, however, magical skills that required energy cannot be used.

Furthermore, he could feel neither the ARK, the orb or Curtis. No matter how much he tried, he wasn't able to unleash Dark Magic.

Each of them took a room so they could rest for the night. The Joker 'paid' again and said that the trick will last much more time this time so they shouldn't be worried about being discovered.

****

In a rocky mountain range filled with powerful beasts, monsters that are capable of killing even God Monarchs, the sky was suddenly split and a black gate appeared. The doors of the black gate opened and a shooting black shadow descended from above, drilling in one particular mountain.

It cut everything in its way until it reached its destination, a gloomy and dark cave that lacked any form of illumination. Every part of this cave was corrupted by the over-abundant Dark Mana lingering in the air. The earth turned jet black and the walls were consumed by Dark Magic.

The most eye-catching thing in this place was a big black box that merged with this strange environment. There was one shadow sitting next to the black box. This silhouette was startled by the sudden earthquake, it suddenly got up and prepared to fight, thinking that it was a monster.

This person was surprised when he saw an ominous black sheath floated in the air before it started rotating around the black box. The ugly-looking Pigolo, Gutcha, stared at Evil Wind with confusion, not understanding what's happening.

"Is it finally time?"

Apart from rotating around the black box, the blade did nothing else. The pigolo started shivering, not from fear but excitement as the Dark Magic the blade was emanating was beneficial to him.

He ignored Makaze and sat down to meditate again, each time absorbing a little bit of the fog emitting from the blade. He has been here for months and thanks to the seed Arthur planted in him, his cultivation soared.

He grew much taller and his aura drastically changed, resembling Arthur's. He wasn't able to fully control Dark Magic yet so he couldn't stop the aura from affecting his surroundings. Fortunately, the weird black box seemed unaffected by the Dark Magic so Gutcha loyally followed Arthur's orders and remained here.

Although, at first, he felt bored, the increase in his strength brought him some hope and encouraged him to become stronger. He already broke through the God Realm and his speed showed no signs of stopping.

His compatibility with Dark Magic was high which is why Arthur decided to plant that seed, believing that it'll benefit the pigolo and change him into a loyal and powerful trump card he could use later.

Before leaving his tribe, Gutcha fabricated some lies and made everyone believe that he died. He got rid of anything related to him as if he never existed, plus, he never had anyone he had close to so that made things much easier.

He's allowed to leave this place only when the black box breaks but even with Makaze's arrival, it didn't seem to be that time, yet.

****

Back in the White Specter Clan, Lucy, who was startled by Makaze's sudden cry and its disappearance, was worried. A short time after the Dark Blade escaped the prison, the bond that connected her consciousness to Arthur's, disappeared for a split second before appearing again.

This made her heart drop but seeing the thin black thread still present inside of her consciousness made her relieved. However, her mind was filled with dangerous thoughts. Makaze's previous actions meant that something happened to Arthur and although she believed in him, she couldn't help but feel worried about his safety.

'It hasn't been that long since he left… was he captured?'

There's no way Arthur would let himself be captured. He would stop at nothing to leave even if it means showing all his trump cards. The strange thing was that she heard no commotion, which made her confused.

About 5 minutes later, two silhouettes appeared inside of the Winter Prison. Lucy, who's been lost in thought, raised her head only to see a tall silver-haired woman and a scarred old man.

Her eyes turned icy as she glared at the woman, who's definitely the Matriarch and the person who ordered Hobson to bring her here, even if it means using force.

Were it not for her, they wouldn't have to suffer like this.

Despite getting glared like that, the woman's looked at her daughter with a soft and tender gaze.

"Eva."

Even her tone was soft and a bit shaky, barely containing the woman's welled emotions.

"What did you do?"

A chilling aura, different from the one in the prison, emanated from Lucy, who was barely holding herself from jumping at the woman.

"It isn't a suitable place to talk."

The Matriarch waved her hand, somehow teleporting herself and Lucy to an unfamiliar place. It was a quiet courtyard and a forbidden place that only Angelina and Hobson can enter. This was the mother's private residence and the place she cultivates at.

Katrina Album Larva, Lucy's mother, stared at her daughter and force herself to not hug her. She knew better than anyone that it's a bit too late to do that, they need to slowly fix their relationship before thinking of doing that.

She wanted to make things right and for her daughter to live a happy and fulfilling life, a life she owes her after abandoning her for so many years.

She was a bit shorter than her mother, but her face was the spitting image of Katrina. The Matriarch walked up to her daughter and stopped inches away from her before lifting her hand, wanting to caress Lucy's cheek.

Unfortunately, her hand was slapped away by the angry Lucy, who repeated:

"What did you do to him?"

It was no coincidence that Katrina appeared minutes after Makaze disappeared. She was sure that Arthur was still alive but something definitely happened to him.

The mother didn't try to hide the truth or sugarcoat what happened. She sighed and answered

"I killed him."

Lucy's pupils constricted, her heart was rapidly beating and her mind was in total chaos. Lightning fast, her hand headed toward her mother's chest, planning to kill her.

Sadly, her hand hit her mother's chest but it was as if she hit a metal wall. Her hand wasn't able to penetrate the chest and rip Katrina's heart.

"You can hit me if you want but I did what's best for you."

She didn't even try to block Lucy's hit or back away.

Silent Moon was taken out and the trigger was instantly pulled. Unfortunately, the bullet turned into a bent piece of metal the moment it hit Katrina's clothes.

Lucy continuously hit her mother but she did no damage. In the end, she started slapping the motionless woman, who accepted everything.

Only after a while did Lucy calm down. From the look on her mother's face, she didn't seem to be lying, which means that she wasn't aware that her husband was still alive.

The moment the bullet was so easily blocked, Lucy understood that she wasn't Katrina's match, which is why she acted like that. It was partially a spectacle to show that she's enraged and sad about the loss of her husband.

Her mother mustn't know that Arthur is still alive no matter what.

Tears tricked down her cheeks, her eyes became wet and red from crying and strength left her legs. Katrina tried squatted down and tried to comfort the devastated Lucy but her hands were showed away yet again.

"Don't touch me!"

So, Katrina silently watched her crying daughter, her heart was feeling as much pain as her daughter. She knew that killing Arthur would result in this but she had no choice, she just couldn't tolerate the relationship between Lucy and Arthur. Were he a human, she wouldn't have minded but a parasite was another thing.

If the world were to find out, it'll bring a calamity to the White Specter Clan. Everyone on the Divine Planet or even the Cloud Sea Universe would try to destroy them just because of one parasite.

It was clear that Lucy was deeply in love with that man but time heals all wounds. Sooner or later, she will forget about him and begin a new life here.

Katrina vowed to try her best to make that happen. She would stop at nothing to provide her poor daughter the happiness she deserves.

She felt guilty about what happened in the past and always blamed herself for losing Lucy, nevertheless, she never gave up and always searched for her everywhere.

The multiverse was vast, almost limitless and to search every nook and cranny isn't easy. For dozens of years did she travel alone, trying to find her lost daughter, the amount of time, effort, and resources she spent is nothing to scoff at yet Katrina didn't care. All she wanted is to be reunited with her daughter and it finally happened, which is why she felt that it's her fault that Lucy ended up with an abomination, something that is the root of all evil.