"Noo!"

Arthur threw away Thordan's body and jumped at the man, who vanished almost instantaneously. Arthur didn't give chase but crouched next to Lucy and held her body, which was incredibly cold and lacking a constant pulse. Whatever the man just used on her, it was killing her life and Arthur was completely helpless.

His hand shone with a golden light as he activated his healing skills and used Life Energy but it was all pointless as it it wasn't able to stop whatever was ending his wife's life.

A white-haired youth appeared beside Arthur and leaned his head closer, sniffing her for a few moments before muttering

"It's destroying her muscles and bones!"

The plan was for Lucy to use her eye ability to temporarily freeze the Overgod then Arthur would teleport to save her. He never thought that the mysterious man would be so decisive, he didn't even care about Thordan's life.

'You're knowledgeable! Fix this!'

Arthur talked to Claud, who remained silent ever since the fight began.

'I can't just clap my hands and save her life! I need to diagnose her.'

After pausing for a slight second, Claud said

'Forfeit ownership of the ARK, quick!'

'I do! I forfeit ownership of the ARK!'

Just as he said that, the rotating cube inside Arthur's consciousness changed forms, becoming a weird grey triangle. It exited his consciousness and landed on Lucy's chest before slowly melting inside her body.

Claud knew how desperate Arthur was so he had to resort to such extreme measures. In fact, Arthur could barely think straight, however, he wasn't the only one who was panicking.

Katrina, who was at the back, was also shocked by the unfolding events. As she saw her daughter's limp body, she charged toward her but was blocked by Radolf and Midolf, who were determined to stop her.

"Move out of the way! I don't plan to fight!"

The two didn't reply, they just retrieved their weapons and took a fighting stance. They could sense Arthur's desperation and unstable emotions and it is their job to protect him until Lucy's life is saved.

"I SAID MOVE!"

Katrina's energy burst forth, pushing away the two mythical beings and rendering them unable to even get close to her. With lightning-speed, she headed toward Lucy only for a malevolent dark aura to clash with her, stopping her from advancing any further.

A violent energy was revolving around Arthur, boosting his stats and allowing him to face Katrina head-on. He didn't need to talk or explain his actions, he just stood there, Makaze in hand, while glaring at the Matriarch.

"I have the means to save her so stop blocking me."

Time is pressing so pointlessly clashing with him will only cause her to lose her daughter, whom she got back after a very long search.

Unfortunately, Arthur wasn't going to comply as he had complete faith in Claud and knew that his copy will be able to get rid of whatever was killing her.

With a distressed expression, Katrina kept glancing at Lucy, whose body started floating in the air before a strange-looking cocoon enveloped her. The cocoon was unlike anyone had ever seen, it was made of strange black metal engraved with countless changing numbers, basically, it resembled the technology used by the System.

A few more seconds passed before an inexplicable thing happened. The Matriarch, whose attention was on her daughter, was suddenly pushed back a hundred or so meters and when she looked at what caused this disturbance, she was shocked to see a large purple orb rotating above Arthur.

She has lived for a very long time and the savage and dangerous aura emanating from the orb cannot be faked. Katrina wasn't the only one who recognized the orb, the praying monks were also surprised but they were focused on praying so they didn't dare to comment.

On the other hand, the prying eyes watching the fight from afar finally showed their true colors and decided to jump in. They didn't expect Arthur to be in possession of such a priceless treasure and only wanted to 'aid' Katrina at the end of the fight to reap some benefits later on.

Who would have thought the infamous orb would appear here out of all places. Several lights flew across the red sky and appeared around Arthur, each and everyone had a threatening aura.

To make matters worse, these people brought with them small armies that well-equipped and nothing to scoff at. These armies joined the white specters and started fighting the skeletons.

Aborak, who just got done dealing with the annoying fishmen, was surprised as a thick and long chain fell from the sky and hit several thousand skeletons, obliterating them and even ripping the large zombies in half. The thick chain drilled into the ground and linked the earth with the slowly opening gate.

********

Including Katrina, three more people appeared around Arthur, gazing at the orb above him with greedy eyes.

"To think the Orb of the Fallen Overgods is here!"

A woman wearing tight dark blue clothes commented while crossing her arms and inspecting the rotating purple orb.

"It is to be expected for an abomination to possess such an evil thing. Today, it will be purified by the Dominion!"

A bald old man with a small white beard raised his cane and was about to attack only to be interrupted by the last 'guest'.

It was a man clad in white armor, he had long black hair and was holding a long silver sword. He was a famous figure in the Divine Planet as well as all of the Cloud Sea Universe.

He belonged to the Cloud Sea Sect and was called Marshall Albert, known for his chivalry and kind spirit.

"This item is confiscated by the Cloud Sea Sect, no one is allowed to interfere."

Unlike the two others, his words seemed genuine and he didn't harbor any greed toward the orb.

Though shocked, Katrina didn't join them and decided to back away, heading toward the cocoon enveloping her daughter. As for Arthur, he warily stared at the new enemies, not daring to do any sudden moves.

All of them seemed to be as strong as Katrina and they were all focused on him, which left him in a dire and tricky situation, nevertheless, he is not going to give up.

In fact, Arthur very much wanted to chase after the man who attacked Lucy and finish him but he couldn't as the latter seemed to have vanished. Furthermore, the sudden reaction caused by the orb worsened the whole situation.

********

'X' just appeared in the stormy area around the Divine Planet, he suddenly glanced at one specific direction while saying

"It's finally time for our reunion, O'my dear Arthur!"

He was about to bypass the raging winds and enter the planet only for a lonely silhouette to block his way.

Upon seeing who it was, 'X' frowned and clicked his tongue, clearly unhappy to see whoever was in front of him.

"Look, we don't have any enmity between us and I'm not in the mood to fight you so let us part ways peacefully."

The figure blocking 'X''s way let out a sigh and retorted

"I'm afraid that is not possible."

"Hmpf! Don't tell me you want the orb too?"-X

"Want it? No. Need it? Yes."

The man facing 'X' was none other than the person always accompanying the Void Behemoth in the Underworld. He was a friend of Zodiak and was aware that the orb will act soon which is why he came here and patiently waited for X to come.

"Well, it just so happens that I need it so…"

'X' retrieved a short grey cane and prepared himself to fight the opponent before him.

The middle-aged man let out a chuckle and before the fight commenced, he uttered:

"Of course you need it, after all, it's the only existing artifact that is able to kill the Nameless Knight and knowing the feud between you two, it's not surprising seeing you so desperately trying to get it."

Not only is the orb capable of killing the Nameless Knight, but it can also but used to enter the Garden of Words one time. So it isn't surprising to see top figures greedy about it.

For the longest time, 'X' had been hiding from Leiu for fear of being killed. He sought the orb, acquired it and even strengthened it, however, it needed to be charged by a mortal's soul but not any mortal. This was the reason he forsook it to Arthur while planning to retrieve it later on.

Unfortunately, he didn't expect things to turn out this way, nevertheless, he finally located Arthur and the orb is ready to be used. 'X' only needs to get his hands on it then go find the Nameless Knight to finish their feud and exact revenge.