Excluding The Joker's nonsensical rambling which happened more often than not, their trip to Calv-city was rather peaceful. They didn't have to fight, so they either spent their time sleeping or discussing the strange things about this world.

Their mind topic is the disappearance of all of their Systems, which rendered them unable to use their skills. Only The Joker wasn't hindered that much, both Leiu and Arthur relied on their skills and previous stats.

When Arthur asked them about their cultivation, both shook their head and told him that they didn't follow the cultivation route.

"I'm not sure but I surpassed the 10,000th Lv a few years ago."

"Aigooo you two are lucky. It's been a long time since I advanced in strength."-The Joker

The Trickster whined while fiddling with his card, absent minded. From their answers, Arthur could conclude that the Nameless Knight still didn't reach the apex but he was still considerably strong.

"31"-Leiu

"Three centuries."

Just after he replied, the Joker stared at the youth beside him with a strange gaze then added:

"What? 31? You're really a freak, after all."

Basically, a Lv10,000 player is usually thousands of years old and in some cases, centuries old. For Leiu to surpass such a lvl when he's so young, it's definitely abnormal and freakish.

"What about you?"

Leiu asked the silent Arthur, who was trying to guess from 'when' they were. In the present, both of them were peak existence in the multiverse so they must have been from the past, which explains why both of them denied meeting him.

"I'm a Sovereign."

The Joker glanced between a card on his hand and Arthur before saying:

"Strange… my cards are never false yet you don't seem to be lying. You must have some secret!"

In response, Arthur shrugged his shoulders and retorted

"Don't we all have something to hide?"

"I, for one, don't have a single thing to hide."-The Joker

"…"-Leiu

*****

As one would expect from the capital of such a large and prosperous kingdom, Calv-city was bustling with people, especially merchants.

Thick walls surrounded the city, protecting it from any foreign attacks. There's also a large number of guards patrolling the city night and day, capturing any evil-doer they find.

In a moderately large room of a famous inn in the capital, three men were discussing their future plans while enjoying a delicious meal. Since they didn't want others to eavesdrop, it was better to talk here.

"The biggest library is West of the city and it should have many history books."-Arthur

"No no no I won't be going!"-The Joker

The lunatic objected while crossing his arms, unwilling to go to that boring place ever again. Helpless, Arthur sighed and said

"How about you go around the castle and see if there's a place we can sneak from?"

The Joker clapped his hands and nodded his head : "Fantastic idea!"

"I'll go to the library."

Arthur planned to go there but since Leiu was so adamant, he let the youth do what he wants and decided to tour the city and visit the Guild, trying to see if there's any mission that mentions the Cthulhu or the disappearance of large amounts of Mana Crystals.

****

The next day, inside the library, Leiu was carefully reading every book, trying to figure out what's going on. Unknowingly, he spent more than six hours inside, unaffected by the passage of time and wholly focused on the contents of the book.

Only when his stomach started growling did he close the book and leave. He was to meet with the others in the inn when the curtain of night falls so it's a bit soon.

Fortunately, he did discover a few things about the past, things that clarified many things but still didn't help him figure out the reason they were sent here.

'I mean… why us three? There must be a lot more qualified people.'

Apparently, the calamity that struck this world 3,000 years ago was caused by 'aliens', which suddenly appeared and started causing chaos.

The aliens weren't that strong but they had the advantage in numbers, moreover when a hero appeared and started eradicating the invading race, they summoned their god in retaliation.

A fierce battle occurred between the evil god and the hero but in the end, the latter emerged victorious. Ever since that fight, the descends of that hero were named Kings or Queens of Calvanar.

After his victory, that hero established this kingdom, which rose into power and after 2,500 years, managed to absorb all the nearby kingdoms and become the absolute ruler of this continent.

'The alien race, couldn't be the Cthulhu?'

Leiu pondered about the invaders but no book mentioned monsters with multiple arms. It was said that these aliens had different shapes and sizes and were quite resilient.

****

Arthur wandered around the city but the rumors he heard were unimportant, moreover, there were no strange missions in the guild so he just kept touring the city.

As he was examining the food stalls and weapon shops, Arthur's happened to land in a small shop that sold all kinds of paintings. By no means was he interested in them, however, one particular painting grabbed both his gaze and soul, shocking him to the core.

He stood there, dazed, for several minutes, snapping out of it only when a passerby pushed him by accident. With unsteady steps and slightly trembling body, he walked toward that painting, not withdrawing his gaze for even a split second.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

"…"-Arthur

Even when he heard the shopkeeper, Arthur gave no response, his attention still glued to the painting.

"It's a new painting made by the royal family's personal painter. It depicts both the beauty and majesty of our Queen."

"This is the Queen?"

The shopkeeper shook his head in disappointment while replying

"For you to not even recognize the Queen… you must be from the Eastern Continent. Indeed, she's our Queen, Margaret and although she's not the descendant of Hero Calvanar, she still became the current ruler after the death of the King."

Still visibly shaking, Arthur questioned:

"How did the King die?"

"He was sick ever since he was young. He died before they had any children so, after some kind of vote, she ascended to the throne."

"I see I see… and when did she marry the former King?"

The shopkeeper pondered for a few moments before saying

"I'm not sure… I think it was three years ago."

Arthur handed him a gold coin before leaving the shop and disappearing amidst the crowd. He entered an empty and narrow alley and retrieved some kind of cloth mask and covered all of his face, excluding his eyes.

He was unaware that his body was emitting black fog, though it could barely be noticed due to the environment.

*****

Inside the gloomy cave, Gutcha suddenly opened his eyes and turned his head, glancing at the rotating Makaze, which suddenly began acting strangely.

It started emitting deafening cries, shaking the very being of the startled Pigolo. He got up and tried to somehow appease only to be flung a couple of meters away.

"What's wrong with it?"

The cries were getting more intense and the cave started violently shaking, black flames enveloped the dark sheath and then stretched to all direction, covering the scared Pigolo.

Unexpectedly, the black flames didn't harm Gutcha, who thought he was done for. His body shook from fear, although the rage of the blade was not directed at him, he still felt an inexplicable dread.

****

Back in the White Specter Clan, precisely inside Katrina's private residence, there occurred a small disturbance that alerted the owner.

The Matriarch appeared in Lucy's room and locked her gaze onto the meditating daughter, who paid her mother no heed. She was an Exalted God so she was able to feel the huge disturbance inside Lucy's consciousness even when the latter tried hiding it.

'This is… huh?'

Although she tried sensing the origin of the disturbance, she was unable to.

"You… you're bound to something?"

"…"

The mother was ignored by Lucy, who wasn't in the mood to talk to her mother. She remained in that meditating position while trying to figure out why the Soul Bind was reacting like this.

The thin black thread that connected her consciousness to Arthur's, was reacting fiercely, covering her whole consciousness with a thick black fog.

'It's like that time…'

****

Two men stared at each other while listening to the excited adventurers which were whispering to each other in a table near theirs. One was a youth clad in black armor and the other was a tall man wearing a funny-looking white costume.

"Hey hey, did you hear about the recent news?"

One burly adventure leaned closer to his friend and whispered with a low voice

"I heard that someone invaded the royal castle… the situation is unclear but everyone is trying to capture him."

"Are you sure it's true? It isn't easy to infiltrate that place. There is at least a thousand guard."

The adventurer's friend didn't quite believe this rumor. In response, the burly men looked around before speaking again:

"I'm telling you, it's true! He already killed over thirty guard!"

Both the Nameless Knight and the Joker stared at each other, confused and surprised. Arthur was supposed to come dozens of minutes ago yet he was absent, then there's this shocking piece of news.

It didn't take a genius to piece two and two together. However, they couldn't think of a reason that pushed Arthur to recklessly enter that place.

They were supposed to sneak into the royal library but Arthur was brazenly killing everyone in his way, or so the rumors stated.

"Isn't he being too rash?"-The Joker

"There must be a reason for his actions."-Leiu

Just as the Joker was about to talk again, a short haired youth barged into the inn, attracting everyone's attention. While gasping for breath, he said

"S-someone tried to assassinate the Queen!"

Before anyone could react, the youth added:

"He's still fighting the royal knights in the throne room b-but it's expected that he'll be killed or captured very soon."

…

While looking at the large castle standing taller than the other building the capital, The Joker asked

"What are you thinking?"

He glanced at the youth, who's gaze was locked in the shining moon hanging in the night sky. He raised his hand, where a black helmet appeared, he slowly put it on his head while replying

"There must be a reason we three were sent together. Plus, I owe him a favor."

Hearing that, the Joker burst out in laughter and said

"Hahahahah you're such a sentimental person."

"Shut up."

The Joker lifted a hand that was holding a card and muttered

"Cards never lie… someone like him won't be hindered by mere Royal Knights but… I suppose I could lend a hand. He seemed strong and I think we got along pretty well."