"A wise decision thou hadst made."

The silver dragon talked to the Water Empress, who was following, intrigued about their destination and confused about her role in all of this mess. Yamak barged into her region, frightening the citizens and demanded her help which came as a shock for this woman, who didn't even know the dragon.

She heard him talk about an ancient scroll and he needed her to use it on him but it was clear that he wasn't going to be the only target of this scroll.

"Isn't it time you tell me things I want to know?"

As she flowed this enormous silver dragon, the woman coldly spat those words while gazing at the non-hostile flying beast.

"Thou art very impatient… very well, ask."

"Who's the 'caretaker' you spoke of?"

"Someone who saved my life when I was a newborn and taught me many things."

"That's not what I want to know! Tell me his name, his background."

After a momentary silence, Yamak let out a chuckle which sounded very terrifying.

"He had many titles but some were more infamous than others. I doubt thou knowst anyone of them so I'll tell you the one given to him by the whole world."

"…."-Empress

"He was called 'The Prince of Brutality'."

Just as he said those words, the Water Empress halted her flight and stared at the dragon with a surprised expression. The reason that everyone knows of this prince is because of his past deeds. His story would be told to naughty kids as a means to scare them and make them behave.

Apparently, he's the archenemy of everyone in the eighteen regions and the High Rules forbid anyone of speaking his name publicly. The Empress never thought that this dragon, who came seeking her help, is actually the 'student' of the Prince of Brutality.

It's a well-known fact that this cruel prince caused the death of countless people and it took the effort of all the ancient factions to take him down then create the eighteen regions.

*********

"I'll give you one chance to stop him."

Katrina sat opposite of the expressionless Lucy and warned her. She didn't want to make things more complicated for her and her family so it is better to solve the situation before it worsens.

In response, the daughter coldly smiled and snickered:

"Don't even dream of it. When he comes, it'll be the end for you and your clan."

Lucy didn't even try to hide the killing intent she harbored toward her mother. She knew that her strength was insignificant compared to the Matriarch so she didn't try anything reckless, however, oft than not, words hurt more than weapons.

Katrina sincerely loved and treasured Lucy and didn't want her to get involved with Arthur due to his race. If an outsider were to discover about their relationship, it'll ruin everything.

Parasites are the archenemies of any person on the Cloud Sea Universe so even if she wanted to, she simply cannot tolerate their relationship.

"Even if he's special, his end will be the same if he dares to attack this place so now that he's alive, why don't you try to keep him like so?"

A chuckle escaped Lucy's lips as she listened to her mother. She crossed her arms and said:

"Who are you to talk when you don't know anything? It's pathetic seeing you like this. I'm ashamed to be your daughter, truly!"

A pained expression plastered itself on Katrina's face, she wasn't angered by her daughter's rude attitude. She let out a helpless sigh then added:

"I know it was my fault for losing you but I searched for you everywhere. I don't know what you have been through but I know I can make it up for you so why can't you let me try?"

Seeing her mother's desperate tone, Lucy glared at the woman opposite of her and banged her fist on the table, freezing it along with half of the room.

"You lost that right the moment you laid hands on my husband!"

After a momentary pause, Lucy continued:

"I never asked for your motherly love or to be brought to this damned place! I wanted to live a peaceful life with my husband and daughter, your repeated interference only messed things up."

Katrina silently listened to the outburst of her angered daughter without doing or saying anything back. A bout of silence flowed between the mother and daughter and when the former was about to say one last thing, a chilling and ominous aura enveloped her.

Even her high cultivation wasn't able to block or resist that aura which invaded her body and headed toward her right hand.

Startled, Katrina raised her right hand and stared at its back only to find strange black flames forming a symbol. A few seconds later, the flames vanished and were replaced by a jet black symbol, the one and only mark of the Dark Blade.

Lucy also witnessed everything that happened and once she saw the mark caused by the oath, she knew that her mother is officially one of the targets of Arthur.

"That will be your doom."-Lucy

****

"Hey hey! Missy! It's nice seeing you here, alive and safe!"

A bald man wearing a monk's outfit waved at Angelina, who thought that he's some of her 'admirers'. Unfortunately, the bald monk was quite the persistent one as he followed her around and spoke a lot of nonsense.

At first, Angelica ignored him but when she pieced together some of the things he said, a crazy idea struck her.

Abruptly, she snatched by the back of his neck and dragged him into an isolated alley before saying

"Speak, who're you!"

The surprised monk scratched his bald head, flashed a disgusting smile at her then introduced himself:

"I'm Gobu! Did you already forget about me? Did you lose your memories after all the commotion that happened in that tournament?"

(Author's note: Chapter 63)

Honestly, Angelina didn't know what he was on about. He was clearly familiar with her but she never met him which can only mean one thing… he was an acquaintance of a friend of her little sister.

Sadly, the truth was far from that, he only participated in the same tournament as Lucy, they never actually spoke. Though the fight that occurred at the end made the whole trip to that lower world quite an unforgettable experience for the penniless Daoist.

After thoroughly inspecting the bald monk, Angelica asked

"You're from the Thousand Buddha Sect?"

Gobu cupped his fists and greeted her in a traditional way, his actions and clothes were enough to prove his identity.

"Speak, when and where did you see me?"

His cultivation was quite low so when he was faced with Angelina's suffocating aura, the monk's face turned red and his body slightly shook.

"A f-few years ago in a lower realm."

"Which world?!"

"I-I don't know… it was part of our Buddhist trial. The world we're sent to is random."

Angelina crossed her arms, pondered for a few moments before talking again:

"Tell me everything that happened and don't miss any detail!"

Her threatening aura and suffocating pressure left the monk with no choice but to recount everything.

*****

The Underworld, The Silent Graveyard.

This place, controlled by the Lich King, was filled with undead of all types. Usually, any Undead summoned by a necromancer is brought from here and when it's dead it'll simply return to this eternal graveyard. However, there are exceptions as not all the undead summoned by Arthur are from the Underworld.

Today, the eerie graveyard had an unexpected individual who directly headed toward the ancient black castle situated at the center of this land of death. Aborak, the Lich King, is at all-time inside of that castle unless an urgent situation calls for him to personally act.

…

A blurry silhouette was sitting on a throne made of bones, upon a close look, this figure wore a rugged black robe and had a skeletal body. Its eye-sockets were filled with ominous purple beams and a jet black crown was at the top of the skull.

Even when the uninvited guest appeared before the Lich King, the latter wasn't perturbed or scared despite the big difference in strength.

He calmly sat on the throne and slowly raised his head, his non-existent pair of eyes landing on a man with short grey hair and an eye with the color of blood.

"I did not expect you to come here."

The Lich had the demeanor of a king, an ever-lasting aura lingering around him and his voice was bone-chilling.

Arthur, who just barged in here, put his right hand on his chest and bowed toward the Lich King.

"It is good to see you too, Lich King."

When he heard that, Aborak scoffed at Arthur and retorted:

"Good to see me? I don't remember our last parting being on good terms, not after the mess you caused at the Grand Banquet."

The purple beams filling the Lich's eyes changed color, becoming blue as restlessly and creepily moved around. After studying Arthur's friendly expression and seeing his overly-polite behavior, Aborak added:

"Nevertheless, it's all in the past. I'm not a person who dwells on such things, after all, I wasn't as affected as the others by all the ruckus."

Strangely, even though Aborak was only at the God Realm, Arthur felt slightly threatened by him. It wasn't the same feeling he's got from Katrina but his instincts were still warning him. In fact, Aborak felt similar to the Grim Reaper, a being who can manipulate death and harvest souls.

'Indeed, I made the right choice by coming here.'

A great army needs a good commander and vice-versa. Arthur couldn't think of a candidate better than the Lich King himself, an expert in this field and probably the only one who can control the army stationed in Astria. He felt confident in convincing Aborak and if all goes well, he would have advanced another step toward the completion of his plan.

The army he would create and organize would be unstoppable, there cannot be a single mishap. Everything needs to be calculated and all factors are taken into account.

Arthur knew that the enemy won't be just the White Specter Clan and for this reason, he wasn't content with just an army of undead.