"This is weird, there's no mention of any other world except this one."-Arthur

Arthur read the ancient book and creased his brows, finding not a single information about the multiverse or what lays outside or Riarravar.

"I think they either hid or got rid of the truth or there's none, to begin with."

Leiu passed a book to Arthur while adding:

"The oldest thing ever recorded dates back to 4,000 years ago. Aliens races invaded the land and wreaked havoc, seeking domination and wanting to enslaves the inhabitants of this world. So, amidst the normal bunch, a 'Hero' appeared, he resisted the relentless attacks of the monsters and emerged victorious at the end. However, there is very little information about the alien races, it isn't even mentioned if they were eradicated or are still here."

"It's not that hard to guess. The Parasites are surely one of them, there's also the suspicious dark-skinned monsters underground. They use the same method as the Cthulhu so it's safe to assume they belong to the same faction."-Arthur

"Yes but what are their motives? The parasites have been ruling this continent for centuries yet they did nothing to harm the land or its inhabitants which confuses me."

With a hand rubbing his thin beard, Arthur pondered for a few moments before saying:

"Perhaps they're waiting for something? Also, there's a strong chance more of these 'aliens' are hiding in Riarravar."

"It's complicated since we don't know what we're supposed to do. I say we try getting rid of the parasites and see what happens."

"I agree."

Unfortunately, the books and documents in the Royal Library weren't that useful. The truth about the world remains unknown to the duo, who soundlessly left the castle without alerting a single soul.

…

Meanwhile, inside the prison cell, the Joker, who was supposed to be suffering in agony was currently grinning. Both his legs were wrapped around the body of the parasite, almost crushing her bones.

"I told you to be gentle, didn't I? Hahhaha"

Very casually, he broke the chains restricting his hand and then held the woman by the back of her neck. Her resistance was futile as she couldn't fight against him for some reason. She failed to notice a card that was stuck on her back and this was why she deprived of all her strength.

After stretched his limbs and took a deep breath of air, The Joker let go of the parasite, who fell on the ground, and proceeded to bend the prison bars, opening a hole large enough for him to leave.

The card on the woman's back turned into a rope of light which was held by the Trickster. He left the prison while dragging the powerless parasite like some trash.

"If only you were gentle I would have stayed a bit longer… tsk tsk!"

A card appeared on his hand and just like last time, he was enveloped by a circle of white light that teleported him along with his new captive.

He appeared in the middle of a forest, precisely the temporary hideout of the trio. Two silhouettes melting with the dark environment soon appeared next to the Joker. Both were staring at the wriggling parasite, who's hood was taking off.

Seeing her appearance, the Joker whistled in excitement while saying

"A hot body and a pretty face… ain't that great?!"

In response, the woman glared at him and tried using all her strength to break free only to feel much more tired. The more she resisted, the faster she'll exhaust herself, that's just how the Joker's Magic operated.

After enjoying the view for a while, the Joker turned to face his two companions and said

"Now, who's good at torturing people?"

The three were no strangers to torture methods but they need to an expert to force her to talk. Fortunately, Arthur had a better and faster method. He squatted near the female and said:

"I can handle it, just hold her down."

The two complied with his request and each held one of her hands while her legs were bound by the rope of light.

Although he's still learning how to properly use Dark Magic in this foreign world, given enough time and much concentration, using some of the advanced skills is possible.

In this situation, nothing is better than [Dark Extraction] which is a cruel but effective skill that can make him see some of her memories. Not only does it bring unimaginable agony to the victim, it also weakens him greatly.

Slowly but surely, dark fog started emanating from Arthur, it was about to disperse in the surroundings only for a suction force to come out of his hand, absorbing it all before turning into a malevolent black light.

The female parasite, who's about to be the victim of this spell, felt shivers down her spines the closer Arthur's fingers were to her forehead. Nevertheless, she closed her eyes decided to bear with it, after all, she would never betray her kin and spill the truth.

Sadly, that was a very, very bad decision as her loud and painful cries reverberated across half of the forest. The pain she felt could never be described, in fact, it almost drove her crazy. It was as if someone was drilling into her brain, plus, the more time passed, the more arduous it became.

Arthur stopped after a minute passed, he retracted his shaky hand and fell on the ground, panting heavily and even coughing some blood. Both the Joker and Leiu knew that using this skill cost Arthur a lot but they didn't stop him for it was the only effective method to know the truth.

Torture may not always lead to good results, the parasite may as well tell them half the truth or just a bunch of lies to trick them.

After spending a couple of seconds to adjust his breathing and wait for the dizziness to go away, Arthur raised his head and spoke with a weak voice.

"Twenty four parasites are inside the Royal Castle, two were killed by me. She's the second strongest and there's a green-haired man who's the one pulling all the strings. As far as I could see, they're also amassing Mana Crystals to summon their God."

"Why would they summon their God?"-Leiu

"I don't know *cough* they never talked about the reason."

The victim of this evil spell was barely conscious, her eyes were hollow and her face extremely pale. She seemed to be on the brink of death, a step away from losing her sanity.

"Y-you won't get a-"

"Yeah yeah we get it. The same cliché lines for all the villains so shut up will ya!"

The Joker kicked her head, knocking her unconscious, at last.

******

"E-empress!!!!!!!!"

The short girl, who's the Empress' adviser, suddenly barged into the office and jumped on the blue-haired woman, her legs shaking non-stop.

"What's wrong?"

The Empress of the Water Empress, who was busy reading the white book, as usual, pushed away the short girl clinging onto her and asked.

In response, the short girl controlled her breathing before saying

"A-a a a dr-dragon is o-outside…"

The woman frowned and spread her sense, discovering an enormous beast standing in front of her large palace. Countless soldiers were surrounding it but none dared to attack, clearly waiting for their ruler to show herself.

Without anytime to waste, the Empress left her office and appeared before the dragon. She raised her head and stared at this domineering beast, barely able to resist its pressure.

With its beautiful silver scales and two golden eyes, it majestically stood in front of this large crowd, showing no fear or hostility.

"Am I speaking to the 13th Water Empress, Kalisa, The Governor of the Ocean?"

Though its mouth never opened, a deep voice could be heard coming from the motionless dragon, which was staring back at the tall woman.

In response, the Empress nodded her head and asked back:

"And who might you be?"

The dragon didn't seem it fully reached adulthood but it was definitely strong, stronger than a normal dragon.

"My given name is Yamak, The Usurper."

'Yamak? I've never heard of a dragon with that name.'

The Dragon Region is not only far away from the other regions but it's inhabitants never leave their home, choosing to seclude themselves and not interact with outsiders. Moreover, it is the home of the Dragon Lord, one of the few entities that predate the Hour of Creation.

"Following someone's advice, I've come seeking help."

The Empress crossed her hand and replied

"What makes you think I'll help?"

As if expecting such a reaction, Yamak said:

"I've known and seen things that may interest you."

The silver dragon glanced around before adding

"It is not a suitable place to talk, follow me."

It flapped its large wings and transformed into a thick bolt of lightning which vanished from that place in a split second. As for the Empress, she pondered for a few moments before following it.

****

In a wide yet flat mountain peak, one dragon and one woman stood opposite of each other. The dragon crouched down then said

"First, I need you to agree to help me before I say anything."

Still suspicious of the beast, she retorted

"It depends on the matter. How exactly can I help you? And why come to me out of all the other region rulers?"

"Because you're the descendant of Shiva, a friend of my past caretaker."

A bit surprised by the dragon's honestly, the Empress grew more suspicious.

After a momentary silence, the dragon talked again:

"I need to retrieve a scroll, a spatial scroll."

"And I suppose you can't do it alone?"

"I can and I will, however, I need your help in using it."

Not understanding a thing of what he's saying, she said

"Either explain in detail or don't talk!"

"A very long time ago, before even the Hour of Creation, there was an ancient elven society. They were an intellectual race that managed to create a special scroll. This miraculous thing allows one to travel through time without fearing the Time Wraiths. What's more, it can be used on not only people but worlds too."

Zodiak's notes (Chap 271)

'4th Peace Era, year 183 11th month, 29th day.

I successfully found the ruins of an ancient elven Race that perished during the Titan War. It was mostly filled with defensive formations but I was able to find a secret room that had a high-level Spatial formation that I was able to resist. Against my will, I was sent back in time, it was a weird experience as only my consciousness was sent back but I was still able to demonstrate my powers even without my body. I saw the perishing of this Elven Race, unfortunately, I wasn't able to remain there for a long time and was only able to get my hands on a special time formation scroll. Although I wasn't able to obtain the item I wanted, the scroll was still precious, however, I wasn't able to completely decipher it to due to my weak Space Magic.

Matters got worse when a Guardian appeared and attacked me on the spot. I defeated it after a bitter struggle but didn't kill it, requesting some answers about the scroll in the exchange for its life. I was flatly rejected and thrown out of the ruins when the Guardian activated the last layer of defense of the ruins.'

'4th Peace Era, year 7514, 2nd month, 1st day.

I managed to decipher the whole scroll but the formation inside couldn't be cast by me, I was inadequate and the materials are too extravagant. The formation is a defensive one, highly-effective against anyone that attacks it from outside. It has three functions, the first it to completely defend whatever is inside of it, the second one is absolute isolation from the rest of the world. Upon further research, I discovered that most of the secret Realms and worlds out there have a similar formation that prevents people from finding them unless a set of requirements is met or if it's destroyed by brute force, which is a very rare occurrence. The third function only applies if one material is added before it is cast, the heart of a fully mature Space Dragon. If the heart is added then the formation becomes able to send whatever is inside of it in the past, the time they are sent to can be adjusted, however, the downside is that they cannot go back, once you go, then there's no return.

I was unable to believe this even after spending five thousand years deciphering this scroll, playing with time is always dangerous and to send back people or worlds in time goes against the balance...'