The first cyclops, which was hit by Arthur's Dark Magic, suddenly succumbed, not expecting to be weakened this fast. He fell on the ground and started wriggling before dying, at last.

This startled the four other parasites, including Claudia, who became more vigilant of Arthur's Dark Magic. It only took him one hit to eliminate one of them and this shows how deadly his magic is.

The remaining cyclops didn't last long either, after being struck by three slashes, it followed its comrade to the afterlife. Now, the two parasites guarding Claudia, their Queen, had to make a move.

However, she decided to join them to ensure their victory. Just like she proclaimed, Claudia was indeed a parasite and a stronger variant than the ones responsible for her safety.

Red scales that emitted some heat started growing on her body, covering more than 80% of it. A long dragonic tail grew from her lower back and a ring made of red flames surrounded her. Unfortunately, Arthur never saw this skill but he had heard of it from Vince.

It can be used by humans who have one dragon as one of their parents, this grants them this overpowered ability. Not only does it strengthen the user's physique, but it also allows them to use dragon skills such as the infamous [Dragon Breath].

The two other parasites also finished their transformation, one was a gigantic flying fish and the other was a white leopard. Before he could react, the leopard appeared before him and struck his body, causing him to crash into the wall behind him.

The flying fish followed right after, sending big water waves that, not only caused blunt damage but also made Arthur drenched and suffocating as he swallowed a lot of water.

"Isn't this nostalgic?"

While seductively saying that, Claudia raise her hand and unleashed a flame blast, which somehow was blocked by a half-transparent Dark Barrier. The barrier didn't hold up for long but it bought him enough time to jump to the side and raised his katana with both hands.

He concentrated all his accumulated Dark Magic and vertically struck the air, precisely at the direction of the flying fish. A deafening whistling sound resounded inside the throne room and born from Arthur's simple move was an ominous black beam, which traveled with lightning speed, and was supposed to finish the flying monster.

Unfortunately, the white leopard jumped between them and intercepted the attack by forcefully diverting the beam's trajectory using its glowing body.

Seeing his ultimate attack fail, Arthur leaned on the cracked wall and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and let go of the dark katana.

"It's useless to fight back. Just accept defeat and let us continue what wasn't finished in the past."

She chuckled and vanished from her spot, appearing in front of Arthur. Her tail wrapped around his waist and raised him a few centimeters above the ground.

He wasn't fatally injured but he still broke a few bones and had a bloody wound on his back. She stared at this scarred grey-haired man while saying

"I was magnanimous and wanted to let bygones be bygones yet you chose the cruel path. We're both parasites… aren't we supposed to work together?"

She shook her head then gazed at him while licking her lips : "I'm so going to enjoy torturing you again, after all, I'm curious about many things like… how did you get here, who sent you, etc…"

Just as she was about to snap his legs to permanently cripple him, a foreboding feeling struck her, causing her body to shiver. Her bestial instincts repeatedly warned her to retreat and retread she did.

The tail unwrapped itself and the woman abruptly backed away but she wasn't fast enough to dodge the whole blow. A malevolent and big dark arrow appeared from within the wall and flew straight at her.

She crossed her arms and retaliated by unleashing large amounts of flames, which were successful in momentarily stopping the arrow. The flying fish used its body to strike the arrow but it only led to agonizing pain and instant death.

Literally, the fish turned jet black before dark flames covered it then consumed it, leaving only nothingness in its place. Dumbstruck by what just happened, Claudia's face turned pale as she widened the distance between her and Arthur, afraid that another arrow appears out of nowhere again.

Fortunately, by sacrificing itself, the flying fish managed to get rid of the dark arrow, which became very small upon killing the parasite. Its momentum weakened and the sea of flames was able to scorch it.

Still, Claudia felt terrified by Arthur's ominous magic, not only is it unusual, it's deadly, especially to parasites, for some reason.

The white leopard jumped at Arthur, planning to slash him with its claws only to hit nothing but black smoke.

Arthur literally transformed into black smoke which easily bypassed material things and wrapped itself around the leopard, suffocating it within seconds.

The only remaining parasite, Claudia, witnessed this and couldn't understand what's going on. She was unaware that Arthur, who was losing a moment ago, became stronger only due to his intensifying emotions.

Though he was losing his rationality, his strength was rising by leaps and bounds. In no time, he'll become controlled by his anger and would stop at nothing to kill her.

That's how terrifying Dark Magic is, it feeds on emotions, mainly anger, and grants an almost endless amount of power to its user. As long as it's fueled by intense emotions, there's no telling how strong Arthur can become.

The black smoke condensed into Arthur, who straightened his back and held a black spear with both of his hands. An overbearing aura enveloped him as he glared at her and took the first step while sweeping the spear in the air.

Upon a closer look, Arthur was imitating his copy's movements, it was the skill Vince used against the Divine Beasts.

Instead of the golden radiance that was supposed to emanate from the tip of the spear, an encroaching darkness spread to all directions, getting rid of any kind of illumination, basically turning this room into a world of darkness.

'First step, Dragon Sweeping the Earth'

Claudia felt as if someone was holding her neck and suffocating her, she shook her body then opened her mouth, ready to use [Dragon Breath].

Thick amount of Mana concentrated in her mouth before red flames appeared. Without any hesitation, she spat the red flames, splitting the world of darkness and flying toward Arthur.

Just as the flames were about to scorch him, Arthur took the second step while raising the spear.

'Second step, three-headed Dragon devouring the Land.'

The dark spear left its hand and transformed into a three-headed black dragon that clashed with the dragon breath.

The clash caused the whole castle to violently shake and half of the throne room to be obliterated. Both Arthur and Claudia were pushed back but the former was forced to kneel on the ground as his body wasn't perfect like the past, it wasn't a suitable vessel for the ever-growing Dark Magic.

He ignored the pain and forced himself up, however, his neck was suddenly grasped by an angry Claudia, who had a bloody wound on her abdomen.

She spat some blood and tightened the grip on his neck while wrapping her tail around his waist, making sure to not let go.

"Never mind, it's too dangerous to let you alive."

At first, she planned to enjoy her time torturing him but he turned out to be much more dangerous than she thought. Even someone like her, who's considered strong amongst her peers, was injured by him when he was in such state.

Deliberately sparing his life would only hinder her future plans so she decided to get rid of the root of the problem rather than keep him on a tight leash.

Just as she was about to kill him, the sensation in her hound slightly changed. The black figure in front of her was replaced by a taller man wearing a white costume.

He was showing her a wide grin while saying

"My my, isn't too fast for 'that'? We just met hehehehe"

Before she could react, the man grabbed her stretched hand and casually threw her away. As for Arthur, he was teleported to the Joker's position, meaning, they exchanged places.

He wasn't in his right mind, so, when he saw Claudia sent flying, he was prepared to jump at her only for someone to hold him.

"We should go."-Leiu

An authoritative voice entered his ears and just by hearing it, his body was forced to obey. It wasn't a skill but something different, something overwhelming just like dragon words.

Even after hearing that, Arthur's body started shaking, forcefully breaking the binds that were making him obey the Nameless Knight.

As for the Joker, he was staring at a figure which caught the flying Claudia. Just like the woman, this cloaked-figure was a parasite and from her body curves, it was apparent that she was a female.

She seemed to be as powerful as Claudia or maybe slighter stronger, nevertheless, the Joker wasn't the least bit anxious. He inspected the two women while saying

"You two are just like my companion right here… but why is it that I don't like you?"

He massaged his temple while seriously pondering about the matter. Claudia leapt at the Joker, using her monstrous strength to punch him only for the lunatic to retaliate with a kick.

The two were equal in terms of raw power but when the other parasite joined, the Joker had to resort to other 'means'.

"I would like to fight you… alas, it's not time yet."

He blew a kiss toward the cloaked female parasite before flipping a card from his deck. The card flashed with a grey light which caused him, Arthur, and Leiu to be enveloped by a white circle.

The cloaked parasite figured out what's happening so she darted toward Arthur, planning to snatch him before they are teleported away.

Unfortunately, she was met with a youth clad in dark armor who used one hand to raise his sword and horizontally swing it. This simple move caused a raging wind cyclone to push the parasite dozens of meters away.

When everything calmed down, the two females found themselves alone in the destroyed throne room, which lacked the majesty it once had.