Three days after Emir arrived at the Frozen Keep, the humans started mobilizing their strongest forces and preparing to leave. There are approximatively a thousand living humans in the fortress and less than a tenth had enough power to defend against the angels.

As pert Elias' plan, each party had its own task with the hardest one falling on the Archmage parasite, who showed no objection. The remaining parasites were also going to leave Riarravar for good, part of the deal the Calypso Parasite made with Sol'dhin.

Fortunately, there weren't many parasites, numbering less than a hundred, however, there are a few of them who are exceptionally strong.

Of course, before the appointed day, Arthur didn't forget to pay a secretive visit to Emir, who very much welcomed him. The two thoroughly discussed their cooperation and how they'll proceed.

Despite the notoriety of the Calypso parasites, Emir was quite friendly and cooperative after confirming that Arthur was his kin. He was curious about the mutation which changed Arthur's race but he didn't pry too deep and was satisfied by a vague answer. Furthermore, his focus laid on the spiritual prison and the shrewd humans, who, from what he said, will definitely try something in the middle of the battle.

As he'll be busy destroying the prison sealing Timos' soul, Emir requested Arthur to pay close attention to Sol'dhin and make sure the parasites do not suffer too much.

Their talk lasted for less than twenty minutes before left the room like a ghost, returning to his chamber.

"Hm?"

Arthur frowned as he saw Lucy caressing her abdomen, lost in a daze, not even noticing his appearance. He pretended to see nothing and lightly coughed, causing the silver-haired woman's body to twitch and face him, her expression that of serenity.

"How did it go?" She asked the smiling Arthur, who sat next to her and briefly talked about his conversation with the Archmage.

"Everything is in order. Let us finish our preparation too."

He took out a complex medium-sized machine and put it in the ground before he got to work. Lucy sat next to him every time he signaled her, she spilled some blood on the noisy machine, which absorbed the red liquid like a hungry beast, it even made disgusting slurping noises.

This thing is a unique bullet-making machine created by Arthur using his knowledge and the Lost Magic. It is capable of converting almost everything into suitable bullets for Lonely Moon, the silver revolver.

With the addition of the Devil Arm, the backlash of the gun became negligible, moreover, the arm even boosted Lucy's storage capacity. Right now, Arthur is in the process of making a special kind of bullet, one that can kill anyone, including an immortal and old being like the Shogun.

Even without the System, Arthur could tell that Sol'dhin is unimaginably power which why he threw away the thoughts of confronting him head-on. Of course, it's not necessary to fight him but he and Lucy must always take precautions.

After pumping Nether Energy for five continuous hours and sacrificing two Blood Essences, one from him and one from Lucy, the expected result came out of the machine. It was named 'The Slaying Bullet', which had the same color as Lonely Moon. It was inexplicably heavy and had several vein-like red lines on its tip.

"So… it ends tomorrow?"

She looked at him with an unreadable expression before leaning her head on his shoulder and letting out a sigh. Arthur wrapped his arm around her and enjoyed this moment of peacefulness where only the two of them existed. He purged all the negative thoughts and closed his eyes, choosing to answer her with silence.

He rubbed his finger on the jet black storage ring, hoping to not use the mysterious sword given by Timos. Although it was extremely powerful, it's still a very dangerous thing that can kill him if used wrongly.

**********

The usually quiet keep is eerier than usual as humans and parasites stood a distance away from each other, both standing behind the keep, on the broken long bridge leading to the faraway prison. Apart from the prepared fighting forces, all the rest shivered in the cold as they stared at their experts with hopeful eyes.

The vanguard was composed of three parties, the first one was the Shogun, proudly standing at the center and wearing a purple chest piece. At his right was an unknown couple, one was wearing a long black robe and the other was a silver-haired woman with a green dress, however, she didn't seem bothered by the passing cold breeze.

The last party was a lone figure wearing a robe that matched his hair, he floated a few inches above the ground while raising his wand. The bridge that supposed to be broken was slowly yet surely being reconstructed as magical rubbles started forming a steady path toward the other side.

In a matter of seconds, a new bridge was formed, creating a spacious path leading to the enemy. A small group of humans and parasites started marching, their weapons raised and their fighting spirits ignited. Arthur and Lucy walked at a slow pace, following behind the serious shogun whose hand was placed on his unsheathed blade. The Archmage was the last as his body floated behind this small army, his eyes fixated on the silhouettes of the prison, from which numerous flying humanoids appeared.

The flying shadows grew closer until their appearance could clearly be seen, a pair of white feathery wings and a holy aura enveloping them. They wielded long spears and had faces that slightly resembled humans though they were totally expressionless.

There was also one more enemy to be wary of, they had larger builds and were made of white stone. They are known as gargoyles, usually, creatures of darkness but these ones are different, mutated after absorbing too much light. Their appearance was similar to stone statues but their glowing red eyes and unsettling growling confirmed that they are indeed living beings.

The three main parties didn't move even when the enemy attack, it was the small army that jumped in the air and resisted the attacks. Amongst them, Arthur noticed a young female parasite accompanied by a few of her kin, moreover, there seemed to be a handsome young man wielding a glowing sword and wearing a flashy protective armor. He was none other than Vyncent, who has shaved his beard and tidied his greasy long hair, this caused his appearance to became much pleasing to the eye.

"When we're two hundred feet away from the prison, the first guardian will appear, it'll be your turn then."

Without looking back, Emir spoke to Arthur and Lucy, his wand emanating a blue radiance which shot toward the prison, which was actually a large white sphere enveloping a green blob of light.

The Shogun, the couple, and Emir advanced forward without any hindrance from the angels or gargoyles, their speed wasn't fast but remained consistent. Around ten minutes later, when the battle started heating up between the creatures of light and the small army, the first guardian finally made its appearance.

Like the ones fighting behind, the guardian was a large white gargoyle that wielded an axe-like weapon. It sprung from the abyss down below and blocked the path of the Shogun and the rest.

Before it could attack the assailants, two shadows leapt at it, each from one direction. A series of violent explosions caused its massive body to take a few steps back then, as it swept its spear to get rid of the source of the explosion, its hand was frozen in mind-air, covered by a thick layer of ice.

The gargoyle roared and glared at Lucy, whose Yin ability immobilized the guardian's whole arm. Its two glowing red eyes shot out two beams which were faster than Lucy's reaction. Fortunately, she managed to activate her Time ability, creating a blue sphere around her, which, when hit by the two beams, caused them to become much slower hence allowing her to step to the side.

This, however, was only the beginning of the guardian's counterattack as it kept shooting thick red beams from its eyes. The beams were following Lucy, whose figure became illusory as she jumped from one place to another.

"Let's move forward."

The Shogun, who was lost in a trance, snapped out of it when he heard Emir's voice. As he saw the couple fighting, he let out a sigh and clenched the hilt of his sword, inwardly wanting to fight them. As for the Calypso Parasite, he didn't even glance at the couple as his eyes locked on the white sphere, unleashing vast amounts of power from all sides in an attempt to pulverize it. After a few unsuccessful tries, the Archmage chuckled and whispered to himself:

"I knew that such foolish tries won't work but it didn't hurt to try."

Then he held the wand with his two hands and somehow elongated it, transforming it into a long staff. He pointed the staff at the abyss down below, causing the winds to rage and the artificial bridge to shake. A dragon's cry could be heard from down below, it was so wild and ear-deafening that it caused many of the angels and gargoyles to lose their will and helplessly fall into the primordial darkness.