Wherever he went, all he could see were countless trees, tall and thick bushes. The pain coming from every part of his body and the nauseating smell of the blood leaking out of his fresh wound confirmed to him that this situation was, in fact, real. His rapidly beating heart and the shrieking of the incoming enemies made the pigolo feel desperate, nevertheless, he never stopped even for a second.

He was mentally exhausted and physically fatigued yet his legs kept running, jumping, and leaping over large boulders, trying to lose the chasers off his trail. Unfortunately, he used a considerable amount of his energy and he had to protect the little girl under his shoulder so it was to be expected that he was slower than the still energetic white specters. As for flying to the sky? That would make him an open target and reveal his location to the enemies, who sealed off the whole forest, cornering him and trapping him like a rat.

Twenty minutes passed by and Gutcha's running turned into limping, barely able to shake off the specters, which were but a hundred meters away. Their flickering white flames illuminated the dark area, following the pigolo like some sort of ghosts.

Not even a minute later, a large group of specters finally caught up and circled around Gutcha, baring their teeth at him and raising their weapons. He tightened his grip around Saly's fragile body and held a weapon which seemed to be a mixture of a spear and an ax, covered in Dark Magic polluting the environment around it.

At this point in time, running became pointless and trying to hide behind a human's appearance won't work. It could be said that his fate was sealed the moment he entered the forest but what choice did he have? It was either that or facing off the dark-haired Marshall.

"Drop your weapon, Shapeshifter!"

A white specter adorned in a grim-looking armor covered in numerous slash marks advanced forward and pointed his weapon at Gutcha, telling him to surrender.

"…"

The pigolo maintained his stance, refusing to admit defeat or hand over Saly. He raised his head and gazed at the gloomy sky, the arm wrapped around Saly became covered in dark flames. Obviously, he was up to something and this alerted all the specters.

Actually, Gutcha was going to deplete all his remaining energy to throw Saly, hoping that she's flung far from here and by the time she lands on the ground, she's able to retreat on her own. He glanced at the unconscious girl and let out a sigh, unable to follow up with the crazy plan he just came up with.

Just as their supposed leader of the specters was about to talk again, a blinding radiance appeared out of nowhere and pushed away all the specters. The radiance concentrated on the pigolo, enveloping him in some kind of Holy Light, healing some of his energies and allowing him to regain some clarity.

Then, dozens of thick arrows made of pure light descended from the sky, hitting the white specters, pushing even further away from the cornered duo. Before they could comprehend what just happened, a graceful figure darted from within the lush bushes, a black robe covering the entirety of her body, however, her golden hair was noticeable even with the hood over her head.

The woman appeared next to Gutcha and, without asking for his permission, snatched Saly out of his arms before saying

"Hurry up and follow me."

Without wasting any second, she raised her hand and sent out a spark of light which blinded all the specters and caused them to cover their eyes while yelling like banshees. Though momentarily stunned, the pigolo picked up his dazed senses and quickly followed the blond woman.

********

"You will stay here."

Katrina facing her anxious-looking daughter and calmly said those words while blocking the path toward the closing gate. In response, Lucy crazily charged at her mother, unleashing an absurd amount of Yin power, which froze everything, from the sky to the scorched earth, turning the whole area into a snowfield.

Her uncontrollable emotions strengthened her powers and her actions more savage, she relentlessly attacked the motionless Matriarch, who stood there and easily blocked all the blows.

In less than a minute, the red gate will close and Lucy will lose her chance to join Arthur, who's been banished to an unknown and hellish world. She HAS to be with him, no matter the cost, so, she retrieved the silver revolver and held it in her still intact left arm, intending to unleash a furry of high-grade bullets to immobilize Katrina.

The mother knew the consequences of using that foreign firearm so when she saw her daughter unhesitatingly raise it and aim at her, she frowned and waved her arm, intending to take Silent Moon out of Lucy's hand.

Unfortunately and unexpectedly, her powers didn't work, startling the Matriarch. Even Lucy found herself unable to move for a split second then, after two seconds, a figure appeared three meters away from her.

His expression cold, his skin oddly pale, his body clad in a jet black armor, covering everything but his head.

"This is enough."

Though it wasn't loud, his voice reached the ears of every single living being present in this place, whether it's a white specter or a human. None of them dared to move, they just gazed at this mysterious figure, some wondering who he was, others to see this living calamity disguised as an expressionless youth.

The dark-haired Marshall glared at Leiu with dagger-like eyes, not withholding his killing intent or the hostility he bores toward the Nameless Knight.

The youth stared back at the Marshall before speaking again, with an almost robotic voice.

"I don't like your stare, boy."

It was kind of ironic coming out of a youth's mouth but none dared to mock him or laugh, after all, they were in the presence of a literal killing machine, an unbeatable person unequaled in all of the multiverse.

Though the Marshall didn't show respect for Leiu, he also didn't regard him with contempt and disgust like the weakling around him.

"Bite me."

Katrina's face remained calm but deep inside, she was curious and confused about why someone like the Nameless Knight will come here and intervene. Nevertheless, his arrival was timely as he froze everyone, including Lucy.

Unfortunately for the mother, Leiu turned toward her daughter and said

"Go on, no one will stop you."

The woman nodded at him and, like a shooting star, flew straight at the closing red gate, barely squeezing her body inside before the doors slammed shut, dispersing the savage aura and causing the chains to start shaking, about to seal it once again.

"No!"

The Matriarch's face paled, she desperately struggled to free herself but Leiu's power was just too strong. She could only glare at him with a deadly stare as if she wanted to devour him alive.

In response, the youth remained pretty nonchalant as he scanned the bloody battlefield and added:

"This war has dragged on long enough. It ends now, go back where you came from."

Not far away from the Nameless Knight, the old monk from before cupped his fists, bowed toward the figure clad in black armor and said

"A-Amitabha! Thank you for your gracefulness. This devotee will excuse himself now."

"Hmpf!"

Leiu snorted but still let the monk scurry away like a pardoned criminal. As for the mysterious Marshall, he kept staring at the knight, not hiding his rising battle spirit.

Sadly, his 'rival' was in no mood to fight, he let out a sigh and talked to the Marshall.

"You better scram before I change my mind."

An ominous darkness leaked out of Leiu's body, turning the space around him into an abyss, canceling every law or form of energy. A suffocating killing intent spread from the youth, hitting the Marshall like a truck, even pushing him back a few steps and making him sweat profusely.

Right after that, almost everyone dispersed with the exception of the still-frozen Matriarch, who was bloodthirsty and wanted to attack Leiu. The youth didn't want to deal with this woman so raised his hand, indicating for his brother to come.

With Leiu's signal, a tall man wearing a weird costume appeared before Katrina. Unlike his usual friendly expression, his face was inexplicable cold, filled with all sorts of emotions but mostly anger.

His hand blurred before it grasped the woman by her neck, he leaned his face closer and spoke with a chilling voice

"O' my dear Katrina, I've warned you before… there are people you shouldn't hurt and you know very well how I deal with people who go against my words."

The woman struggled and tried to attack him out of rage and desperation but he wasn't the least affected by her white flames or deafening screeches.

He glared at her with a disgusted expression while continuing:

"What war? What family? You've hidden everyone and used puppets, how very brave and honorable!"

Without waiting for her to talk, he raised one card and crushed it, causing a light to envelop both of them, turning them illusory until they vanished, leaving Leiu alone.

The pale-faced youth landed on the ground and looked at the chaos, the destroyed building, split earth and scorched mountains. The passing cold breeze, the falling snowflakes, the stench of death and blood, mixed together to form a nauseating odor.

After a minute or so, Leiu let out a long, melancholic sigh and muttered

"My brother, if only… if only…"

He covered his eyes with his hand and let out a hoarse chuckle before speaking with an almost inaudible voice

"Those must be the two saddest words in the world."

…

Just when Leiu was about to leave, the red gate, which almost vanished from the sky after all the chains wrapped around it, was hit by an enraged thing. Upon a closer look, the youth saw a dark blade covered in dark flames, banging continuously on the red gate, rendering it unable to disappear or do anything.

The roars of the angry Makaze echoes across this empty and ghastly place, causing anyone to hear them have the chills. As he gazed at Evil Wind, which repeatedly hit the red gate, trying to force it open, the Nameless Knight slowly raised his hand and faced his palm toward the sky, precisely at the gate.

He pushed his palm a few inches forward yet these simple actions caused the whole Divine Planet to shake violently. The stormy areas around the planet momentarily ceased to exist and the hearts of every one of its inhabitants tightened, making them feel uneasy.

The closed gate was ever-so-slightly opened despite the thick chains sealing it. Through this minuscule gap, the dark blade released an ear-splitting cry as if to thank the youth before it dived straight into the gap, entering Oblivion.

A few seconds later, Leiu retracted his palm, threw one last glance at the vanishing red gate before he departed, leaving behind him a desolate land filled with artificial corpses, those belonging to the white specters.

******

"And you're asking me why I'm not reaping? Obviously, because there's nothing to repeat, nothing important, at least."

The old man, Death, gazed at his black-haired student and uttered those words. Though she clearly heard him, she didn't quite understand the situation or what happened exactly.

The teacher shifted his gaze toward the passing youth, who ignored the duo and disappeared into the horizon, and explained:

"You see, my dear student, the Matriarch never intended to fight Arthur fairly. The white specters who fought the undead were real, however, their bodies were 'created'. Basically, they're like second bodies, so to speak."

Shocked by this revelation, Anastassia covered her mouth and seemed to be lost in thought, deeply pondering about something.

As if he read her thoughts, Death rubbed his beard grey beard and said in confirmation:

"Yes, from the very beginning, Katrina was the winner of this war but, Arthur was still able to 'save' his wife. Though, they're both in Oblivion and I really can't see them surviving there, much less getting out. It's an isolated world which has been sealed for countless years, if escaping was that easy, it wouldn't have been that difficult to open the red gate in the first place."

He paused for a second and studied the woman's unreadable expression before resuming:

"Then there's the issue with the person waiting for them at the other side. Even with a miracle, they won't be able to live so I suggest you stop thinking about them and move on."