Lissandra dragged Lucy's body and tried her best to get as far away from the flaming beast as possible. Unfortunately, the spell she cast won't last forever and she was too weak to run, especially with someone on her back. Her abilities weren't combat-oriented and although the monster wasn't particularly strong, it was still able to easily kill her.

The unbearably hot weather and the exhaustion made her movements sluggish as she dragged the unconscious Lucy and scanned the area, trying to find a safe location to hide in for some time.

Sadly, the dog-like beast regained its ability to move thirty seconds later, it growled angrily and rushed at the two women, its mouth wide-open, spitting several large size fireballs.

The frail woman weakly raised her weapons and conjured a shield of light which blocked the fireballs but shattered in the process. She attempted to conjure another only to miserably fail as her body fell on the ground, unable to support her any longer.

With desperate and hollow eyes, Lissandra stared at the incoming beast, which pounced at her. It completely disregarded the unconscious Lucy and mainly focused on her. Her pursuers weren't aware of Lucy's presence, furthermore, they only sought Lissandra, or more precisely, what's inside her.

That power of light is something she stole from the parasites' base when it was raided by the Cthulhu. She and Vyncent stealthily sneaked in and acquired a few good things, mainly this mysterious power and an old key.

Just when the claws of the vicious beast were about to stab the helpless Lissandra, the monster strangely burst into flames. Shocked and confused, the woman looked around only to see nothingness, she was alone in this unfamiliar and eerie place. The howls of the flaming beast and the heat from its flames completely vanished.

She stared at dispersing flames, which lingered in the air for some time before they were pushed away by the passing hot breeze.

With a back soaking with cold sweat, she slowly stood up, looked around multiple times then headed toward Lucy, about to pick her up and leave this place with haste.

When Lissandra was about to pick up the unconscious woman, a tall figure flashed from behind her and appeared next to Lucy. Additionally, another silhouette sprung from the ground, appearing right next to the startled Lissandra.

Only when she saw their appearances did the woman's expression ease up. She let out a long sigh and fell on the ground, her legs finally giving in to the fatigue.

"Fortunately, we arrived on time."

Vyncent crouched next to Lissandra and inspected her body using her sense, finding no signs of any fatal wounds, however, she was very exhausted and needed a lot of rest. In her current condition, it'll be hard for her to use her abilities.

As for Lucy, she was being taken care of by Arthur, who pressed his left hand on her mangled arm, using his Life Energy to restore her crippled limb. Though the process was slow, to say the least, results started showing up after half an hour. The muscles were healed and the skin was growing back, the bones were straightened and strengthened and Mana started flowing through her right arm.

After dealing with her cripple arm, Arthur used his Metal Magic to conjure a sharp and thin needle which was coated with a dense amount of Death Energy. He was following the Quad-Spirit's advice and clearing the impurities in her body which will greatly facilitate her recovery.

With precise and fast movements, he stabbed several parts of her abdomen and chest, injecting Death and Life energy in those holes. At the same time, his other hand was releasing a gentle and soothing light which healed minor injuries all over her body.

"64 holes, 32 for Death and 32 for Life." Said the old ancient earth spirit, which now fused with the rest of the spirits. Through Arthur's eye, he attentively looked at his master's action, advising him and explaining the operation.

"She has a Yin Physique but the Golden Crow flames provide enough Yang to reach the required balanced. You only need to use Death Energy to separate them once, then Life Energy to merge them. In the past, they perfectly merged but whatever that man did, it caused all her Meridians to become corrupt and half-destroyed, I've never seen anything like this."

Arthur was wholly focused on Lucy, more than half of his energy was poured into Lucy's body, first controlling the unstable Death Energy to forcefully separate the chilling Yin concentrated in her body and pushing away the golden energy mainly situated in her abdomen.

The process was difficult and the slightest mistake could potentially cripple her cultivation. Fortunately, her constitution was nothing to scoff at so Arthur was able to successfully complete the first task.

Sadly, the second one was much more difficult, mainly due to Arthur's physical body, which failed to properly circulate the energy from his Dantian to his Meridians. In fact, when he returned to his senses and checked his body, he was startled to see his lower body full of cracks, literally on the verge of breaking.

As he tried moving his legs, they crumbled and he was ejected from his previous body. Arthur was more preoccupied with Lucy than acquiring a host so he possessed her, making the completion of the second task easier as he could see everything clearly.

Approximatively six hours later, Arthur finished the second task, not only cleansing Lucy's body of all the impurities but also strengthening it and healing it. As per his calculations, Lucy would wake in a few hours, at most.

Having finished this straining operation, Arthur exited Lucy's body and retrieved a skeletal body from his Zodiak's storage. This corpse resembled Lichs and belonged to an old Necromancer.

Arthur wore Zodiak's black robe and held an ominous staff then banged it on the ground, causing more than fifty skeletal dogs and birds to appear. This shocked Vyncent, who was about to question Arthur only to see this.

After ordering the new summons to scout the area, Arthur turned to face Vyncent and Lissandra then raised his hand, releasing a blinding light which enveloped the weakly frail woman. This nourishing light got rid of the bruises in her limbs and gave her the necessary energy to move properly again, basically, it rejuvenated her.

Though Life energy isn't able to satiate thirst and hunger, it still able to slightly alleviate them.

"We'll rest until Lucy. You should eat in the meantime."

The bearded youngster nodded his head and used the ring Arthur handed to him to retrieve some fruits and lots of roasted meat. The mere sight of such 'delicacies' made the dazed Lissandra salivate. Like a ghost, she snatched the meat out of Vyncent's hand and started gobbling it like a hungry wolf.

Arthur raised a Dark Barrier around the four of them, then swiftly created a concealing formation which made them undetectable. He used Lost Magic to create a few seats and a comfortable bed for Lucy then joined Vyncent and Lissandra.

"I believe we need to talk."

Unlike in the past, Arthur's tone lacked any hostility or coldness when talking to either Lissandra or Vyncent. They saved him and he was grateful, it was as simple as that. Whatever happened in the past shall remain so.

Currently, their situation demanded that they joined hands, furthermore, Vyncent and Lissandra are more knowledgeable than him about Riarravar. It's true that he lived here a long time with his brothers but, after being invaded by the alien forces, the terrain of Riarravar would continuously and randomly shift so reaching their destination would prove harder than just blindly heading East.

"Yes *munch* we do."

While fully enjoying a large piece of meat, Vyncent nodded his head, his mouth dirtied by the food. Were it not for the shiny armor he was wearing, he would have looked like a miserable homeless. His beard was thick and long, his eyes lacking any light, as if they lost their innocence, and his golden hair reaching his shoulders.

"I would also like to talk with you."

A domineering voice rang inside Arthur's ears, causing him to abruptly stand up, startling the eating Vyncent.

"What's wrong? Did you detect nearby enemies?"

The young man became alert as he comically stood up and glanced around, still munching the food and tightly grasping the hot piece of meat.

Seeing that Vyncent didn't hear the voice, Arthur grew confused and uneasy. Due to the nature of this world, his Sixth Sense could only stretch for 400m, however, even without it, he could guess the identity of the person behind that voice.

In one of the empty eye-sockets of the host he was possessing, there appeared a green and eerie flickering flame. It creepily danced around in that big eye-sockets, seemingly searching for something.

"What do you want? I already refused to play your game."

"Are you sure? Once your reach your desired destination, my offer will no longer be available."

"I am sure."

Arthur could hear a sigh followed by an unnoticeable tremor which affected the whole world.

"Well, you still have time so do think over, thoroughly, if you please. After all, in this boorish place, there's nothing better than a small game… a game, if won, will grant you a lifetime of benefits and rewards. Trust me, you won't regret playing."

Arthur snickered and retorted: "What if I lose the game?"

The creature chuckled and replied: "I can guarantee that none of your humble companions will be affected. Plus, you'll also retain your life."