One day after Arthur's 'death', Lucy was told to live in her mother's private residence as Katrina wanted to see her daughter every day. Stuck in that beautiful courtyard, Lucy stared at the starry sky, lost in thought.

She was interrupted by a fairy-like figure which appeared behind her. She ignored this visitor and kept thinking about Arthur and his whereabouts.

"You should forget about him."

Angelina said to her sister, who paid her no heed and didn't even spare her a single glance. A sigh came out of the sister's mouth, she wanted to deepen her relationship with Lucy and take care of her but the latter was blocking everyone outside, creating a wall between her and her family, unwilling to let anyone inside.

"You will regret this."

After saying those words, Lucy got up and entered her room, leaving a lonely Angelina there.

******

In the White Specter Clan, the second-largest pagoda, where Thordan usually is, a white-robbed tall woman with silver hair appeared at the highest floor, startling the busy man.

His face changed in color once he laid eyes on Katrina, who appeared out of nowhere. He still thought that she's still in seclusion hence his extreme shock.

"D-dea-"

He didn't even finish his first word before his body was flung from the desk, crashing into the wall. He coughed blood while trying to stand up. He held his chest and looked at his 'wife' with fear.

Thordan immediately knew the reason for her actions. Not only did he dear to secretly arrange a marriage for Lucy, he even tried to hit her two times, succeeding in the second time.

"Listen to m-"

He fell on the ground again, kneeling in front of the angry Katrina, who didn't let him gasp for air. Her pressure pressed on his body, damaging it beyond repair.

"There's no reason for me to listen to your poor excuses."

She glared at him and continued:

"Last time I spared you because of your daughter's pleading but not this time. You miserably wasted the chance you were given."

She pointed her index at his abdomen, which freaked Thordan so much. He bent his back and was about to beg only for a light to shoot from her finger and hit his Dantian, pulverizing and destroying his cultivation.

She was an Exalted God, one rank higher than Overgods. Moreover, Exalted Gods are almost non-existent nowadays. Only a few exist in the Divine Planet and almost none elsewhere.

"You'll leave the clan today and return where you came from. You are no longer the father of my daughters."

In response, while groaning in pain, Thordan hysterically laughed and said

"You think sending back won't hurt your status? I'm your husband! You think you can get rid of me?!"

Katrina snorted and pressed her foot on his chest, leaned her face closer to his while warning him

"If I see your face one more time, you're dead."

She then kicked his body, sending him flying out of the room. Coincidentally, a woman was about to room only to be startled once she saw the Vice-Master in such a state.

This woman was none other than his niece, who hated Thordan's guts. She noticed Katrina and quickly understood what's going on.

The niece respectfully bowed toward the clan master and was about to leave, not bothering to help Thordan only for Katrina to say

"Go tell the others that he has been revoked of his status as a Vice-Master. Also, arrange for him to be sent back to the Five Lakes Sect."

"Yes, Matriarch."

…

Later that day, due to the threats of the Five Lakes Sect, Katrina personally went there. They wanted to punish Lucy for killing Lex but after the Matriarch's visit, everything changed as they publicly said that everything was a misunderstanding.

They even apologized for their rude behavior and send some gifts to the White Specter Clan. Once they saw that Katrina became an Exalted God, coupled with her fiery attitude, no one dared to anger her, especially after seeing what happened to her ex-husband.

Everyone knew the bad relationship between the couple, however, none thought that she'll resort to such cruel means. For her to cripple her husband and send him back to his family as an injured and dying mortal, it was a slap to their face but all they could do is bear with it and accept the shame.

*****

"Teacher, you promised to tell me about the story is I did well!"

Saly angrily protested when she saw the Joker avoiding her gaze. She clung onto his legs and persistently told him to start speaking. After relentlessly trying, she succeeded in her persuasion.

"Alright, sit sit!"

As she sat on her usual desk, the grown little girl opened her ears and listened carefully.

"For your father, it may be recent but for me, it was a long, long time ago yet I dare not forget."

He sat opposite the excited little girl, gazed at her shining sky-blue eyes and sighed.

All of a sudden, a black figure entered the classroom and sat on the corner while reminiscing about something. Saly found the action of her uncle quite strange but she didn't comment.

"Breaketh thy chains of captivity."Leiu

"And become the wings of rebellion."- The Joker automatically continued, however, the last verse was missing, so was the person who should say it.

"What are you talking about?"

Confused, the girl tilted her head and tried to understand their words but was unable to.

"You know, there's something your father always used to say 'A person lives three lives, the first ends with the loss of naivete, the second ends with the loss of innocence and the third ends with the loss of life itself. What happened in that world caused us to lose our innocence. We lost the last shred of hope we clung onto for a long time, it's kill or be killed."

****

"Hm? What are they doing?"

An old man with black circles under his eyes yawned and glanced at the planet far away from him. He hugged his pink cushion and pondered for a moment before shrugging his shoulders, too lazy to go check what's happening. Sloth noticed the abnormality occurring on Earth but it wasn't threatening but rather beneficial to the humans so he didn't bother personally checking the situation.

Breaking news spread to all corners of the earth, a fortunate event that happened not long ago caused an uproar. The legions of undead that dominated 90% of Africa suddenly vanished without a trace.

Although they caused total devastation and slaughtered many, at least they're gone so the developed countries started compensating and helping the remaining countries that managed to hold off against the armies of death.

***

"Oh fuuuck this is a lot!"

Midolf rubbed his eyes while looking at the countless undead standing below him. The Itas continent was filled to the brim with Undead. Their number in the hundreds of millions, there were at least 50,000 bone dragons that were quietly waiting to be awakened.

"You could raze a High Realm to the ground with such a big number. I'm afraid the Death Energy would start leaking and affect the inhabitants here, we should seal them."Midolf

Radolf(Swain) agreed with the roc and raised his hand, absorbing almost all of the death energy thus turning all the undead into stone statues. The quantity of Death Energy was just too much, even the World Tree would be damaged if this continues.

The flames of the evil god were halted by Dan, however, they weren't completely extinguished. They were stopped, for now, at least, so there wasn't the danger of the tree turning into ash, nonetheless, it is greatly injured and can't properly use its powers.

****

In a place littered with dead bodies, a bald boy was heavily panting while checking if there's anyone alive. He was covered injuries and could barely move yet he held on and dragged his wounded body.

Fire was spreading and in no time, it'll cover this whole place so he has to flee before he's trapped here. Unfortunately, his body didn't obey him and his strong will wasn't enough as his nervous system was severely damaged.

He dropped on the ground and hit his face, causing him to bleed from his nose yet this kid, who just killed dozens of people, kept trying to escape. He used his slightly functional hand to drag his body inch by inch.

His mind was focused on doing just that so he failed to notice the hooded figure standing a couple of meters in front of him. Only when his hand touched the stranger's boots did the bald boy raise his head and look at the hooded-man with desperation.

The man removed his hood only to reveal a middle-aged man with short grey hair and two strange pupils, one blue and the other red.

"Oft hope is born when all is forlorn."

The boy wanted to ask for help but he was only unable to open and close his mouth.

The man grinned, squatted near the kid and said:

"Boy, I sense great anger and rage welled up inside of you. How about making use of that?"

Without waiting for him to reply, a dark talisman appeared and latched itself on the boy's back, quickly entering it a few seconds later. The boy's body wriggled from the agony, hoarse whimpers escaped his mouth as he clenched his fists, trying to resist the pain.

"Dark Magic is it called, and to you, it is given."

The man left after saying those words, not paying any heed to the fire, which was approaching the boy.

…

If we could see yesterday and tomorrow, the origin and the end, the entire universe in a single moment, we might find answers to the biggest questions of all.

Hitsuzen it was… and Hitsuzen it shall be. It began like that but one's end is the other's beginning. Like that, the two fates became connected for eternity, how Dark Magic initially came to be. Speculations said that Zodiak created it yet only a few knew that it wasn't born from nothing but was given.