Like a shooting star, Angelina rushed past the hundreds of raging Shadow Beasts, her destination only a hundred meters away. Her silver spear was sweeping the air, leaving a beautiful but deadly arc in its way. Any monster that got close to her was flung away, however, due to their sheer number, she couldn't fend herself from all directions.

Her Physique was activated, rendering her immune to physical attack, nevertheless, the Shadow Beasts were still able to slow her down by pulling her shadow, somehow restricting her movements. The beast-like monsters weren't the problem, what was troublesome was a tall shadowy silhouette that bombarded her with attacks while also controlling the lower and weaker species.

"Almost…"

She jumped in the air, trying to dodge dozens of leaping beasts only for the gravity to multiply, forcing her body to quickly descend right into the enemies' bosom. While falling to the ground, she clenched her spear and used her ultimate skill while activating her race's unique ability. An Illusory white tail and long ears appeared, her pupils now snow-white and white flames burning under her feet, Angelina let out an ear-piercing screech and stabbed her spear.

Both the weapon and its user was enveloped by a suffocating aura which took the form of a two-headed dragon, one head was the whole spear while the other was Angelina herself. Like a falling meteor, she crashed into the mass of beasts, causing a loud explosion and pushing all the enemies away. The White Specter crashed into the ground then hastily got up and dashed toward the majestic black temple a short distance away.

She left behind a large crater with a minuscule yet bottomless hole at its center. As for the Shadow beasts, they tried to attack again but by the time they realized what happened, the woman was already at the entrance of the temple, which was a forbidden zone none of them could trespass into.

"It's different *cough*"

Angelina coughed some blood while inspecting the vicinities. Unlike the other temples, this one was, at least, five times larger and looked inexplicably clean and less eerie. Both the floor, roof, and walls were made from a black, crystalline marble, adding more beauty to this archaic place.

Before going deeper, the woman rested for half an hour to heal her wounds and recuperate some Nether Energy. Though, her specter transformation was active and her long tail was dancing in the air as if it was some sort of a radar.

Once she was ready, Angelina cautiously entered the temple, her spear ready to attack anything that moves. Her quiet breathing abruptly halted when a voice rang inside her ears, startling the woman and causing her body to twitch and retreat a few steps.

"I don't think it's respectful to brazenly enter a tomb with a weapon in hand."

"Who are you?"

She tried to locate the source of the voice but apart from the usual statues, there was nothing else. Fortunately, whoever or whatever was speaking to her wasn't adamant about remaining hidden.

To Angelina's surprise, the small statue at the center twitched before it started moving or, to be more precise, the wings flapped three times before the tiny head turned around, facing the flabbergasted woman.

Words got stuck in her throat as she tried to process what just happened. When she heard the disembodied voice, she expected the presence of something but never did she expect that it was actually the statue.

The entity flapped its wings again then flew in the air, heading not for Angelina but a throne that she just had noticed. It was three to four times to size of a normal throne and, sitting on it, was the strongest being that had ever existed, Moriah, the Shadow Emperor.

He had a humanoid body but didn't look particularly human, with a dark blue skin, an absurdly long black hair that reached all the way to the ground, and ears that somewhat resembled an elf's. The entity that just talked to Angelina headed toward the throne and comfortably landed at the top of the throne, right above the lifeless body of Moriah.

"Come here, Angelina Album Larva."

Though it beckoned for her, she only moved after dozens of seconds, her steps clearly showing her reluctance. Though she felt no danger from the entity, it doesn't mean she wasn't afraid.

The woman stopped a few meters away from the throne, her head lifted and gazing at the creature looking back at her. The reason she was first confused when she saw the statues was because the central one, which belonged to the Watched, Bilgart, didn't look as threatening as the rest.

In fact, the statue was that of a crow, a very normal crow except for its color, half black and half white. Even right now, it was still vertically split in two colors, from the top of its head all the way to its tiny feet. The eyes were also pure white or jet black but, apart from that, the crow didn't have anything special, in terms of appearance, that is.

"You came here seeking answers, right?"

Angelina nodded her head but didn't speak.

"But, do you know what this place is?"

She pondered for a few brief seconds before replying:

"The tomb of the Shadow Emperor?"

"Yes, it is his tomb but before that, it was an ordinary planet. Its name was Serenity, a special place for you and your husband Claud Venice."

"Husband?"

"Is it that difficult to believe? I suppose not because, by coming here, you've unknowingly accepted what you've dreamed of. Deep inside, you knew they weren't mere dreams, after all, no mind can create memories so vivid… so heart-wrenching."

*****

"So… what now?"

Arthur stared at the crow standing on the thin branch of the only tree in the courtyard, his gaze locked onto the mysterious white and black pupils of this entity known as the Watcher.

"Now you move on. This is only a spiritual boundary, its only purpose was to explain a few things to you. The real second cycle will start when you open your

Just as Bilgart finished speaking, Arthur started feeling sleep, his eyes slowly closed and his muscles relaxed. The urge to sleep overpowered his desire to remain awake, so, again, he entered another slumber.

*****

"Hey, old man! Are you sure you got the invitation? Show us!"

A bunch of arrogant youths who were loitering around Losha and pestering the old man wearing a grey robe. They were the only two in the vicinities until a while ago, where these second-generation kids showed up and immediately started causing trouble.

Losha, the reincarnator, was sure that they either bought the invitation or illegally acquired because they were not strong enough to qualify for the Red Tower and get a red envelope from the Joker. As they obviously had nothing to do, they started mocking the cross-legged elder and circling around him.

Their intentions were clear yet neither Losha nor the old man reacted in any way. Things escalated pretty as words turned into violence like pulling his long robe and lightly kicking him while laughing outloud.

Having had enough, Losha furiously got up and walked up to them. However, before she could harshly reprimand them in the form of a beating, they swiftly fled. At first, they only glanced at her but when they had a clear look at her face, they recognized her and chose to back away.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Though she found him a bit creepy, Losha still decided to talk to him. Seeing that he didn't react to their 'bullying', she thought that he simply didn't want to offend them as maybe they come from powerful families, which is most likely the case.

The old man stood up and removed his head then softly smiled at the blacksmith, who found his face a bit familiar.

"Thank you for your help miss Losha."

He stretched his hand, planning to properly greet her. Losha looked at this shockingly thin hand and bony fingers and reciprocated as she found it disrespectful not to shake his hand after he had thanked her.

"You know me?"

She stared at his face, which was riddled with wrinkles and unusually pale like that of a corpse. In fact, she sensed no power coming from him, on the outside, he seemed very weak as if a simple breeze could take his life, though Losha knew better than this and decided not to judge him based on his appearance.

"I'm a big fan of your past achievements."

He let out a chuckle after saying that, creeping her out even more. Losha decided not to fret much about it and was about to retreat after shaking his hand only for him to add:

"Ah, please forgive my manners, I haven't introduced myself."

While slightly bowing his bald head, he said:

"The name is Zodiak, very nice to meet you, miss."

For a moment, Losha was shocked as parts of her memories become clearer, giving her more clarity and causing her body to momentarily shiver.

"Zodiak?"

"I guess you do remember me, old friend."

Though he said that, Losha remained oblivious, still trying to piece together her fragmented memories of her past life.

"It is better not to dwell too much on the matters of the past. We didn't part ways on friendly terms, however, I do wish you do not get consumed by your greed once more, G'am Tir."

Right after saying that, he sat cross-legged and closed his eyes, no longer paying any attention to the dumbstruck woman before him.

**********

Death and his recent disciple, Anastassia, stood before the dying Zodiak.

"I'm surprised he still can hold on."

The robbed old man gazed at Zodiak, who was all bloodied and trying to use what little remained of his Dark Magic to get rid of the malevolent Darkness unleashed by Anduril, Leiu's sword.

"You will separate the soul from the body then I'll give you the Scythe to harvest it."

Death explained the process to Anastassia. The woman, after slight hesitation, crouched next to Zodiak, who's almost dead, and stretched her hand, about to pull out his soul.

Unfortunately, the moment she got close enough, a hand grabbed her throat, suffocating her. Before she could do anything, her body was assaulted by a monstrous amount of Dark Magic which sealed all of her movements.

The old man, Death, tried to stop Zodiak's sudden attack but he was a second too late. Both the assailant and the now-hostage Anastassia appeared a distance away.

"What do you think you're doing, Zodiak!"

Very angry, Death glared at Zodiak, who's barely able to breathe while gripping Anastassia's neck, and shouted.

In response, Zodiak coughed a bit of blood before saying:

"You attempt anything, she dies."

He tightened his grip, causing Anastassia's face to turn red, there even a black fog coming from her nose and ears. By now, Death knew that she had been corrupted and not even he, is able to extract all the Dark Magic.

"What do you want? I can neither save you nor heal that wound!"

"I knew you to do what you're good at, harvesting souls."

Zodiak pointed at his chest then continued:

"After Arthur reincarnated into me, our soul became larger and stronger. I want you to split it in two!"

"Are you crazy?!"

The old man frowned, revealing a twisted expression, clearly finding whatever Zodiak said absurd.

"I can't do that!"

"You can and you will."

Zodiak threatened the old man by using the now unconscious Anastassia, who couldn't handle the pain. Her life was now entirely in the Mythical's hands and the only one who can save her is Death.

"It's not like your souls merged, it's the same one. It's not possible to separate it in two."

"Is that so?"

The hand gripping the woman's throat tightened even more, shredding the skin and damaging her larynx. Seeing this, Death panicked and hurriedly said:

"Stop, I will do it!"

He gritted his teeth, retrieved a large scythe and marched toward Zodiak.

"Try anything else and I'll make sure she joins me!"

While still holding Anastassia and breathing really heavily, Zodiak made it so his chest is exposed to the incoming Death.

Actually, what Zodiak wanted wasn't an impossible thing, however, it goes against the natural laws of Death so by doing that, Death will be condemning himself. The only thing that can get rid of Death are the very same laws that made him.

The large and sharp scythe was swung at Zodiak, going through his chest and striking his consciousness. It has to be said that Death was very accurate as he pulled half of the soul, bringing with it Arthur's memories.

This caused Zodiak to fall and clutch his chest, unable to bear through the agonizing pain. As for the old man, he caught the falling Anastassia and made sure her hand was holding the Scythe, which the only thing that symbolizes true Death.

His figure slowly started vanishing he completely disappeared, leaving only an unconscious Anastassia and a struggling Zodiak.

A long while later, the woman woke up, feeling confused about the condition of her body. She felt refreshed and no longer sensed her Dantian or anything else, it's as if she was no longer a human. She surveyed the surroundings and happened to see the lifeless body of Zodiak laying a distance away.

In her hand, there was a Scythe, though contrary to the one from earlier, this one was jet black and emitting thick amount of Death Energy.

******

When he opened his eyes again, Arthur saw a two-story building that was not only dirty but riddled with holes. The walls were creaking and the door could not be closed due to its poor, shattered state. There was a heavy downpour which made him all wet and limiting his view of the vicinities, nevertheless, he recognized this place with only one glance, it was the orphanage he grew up in.

"Bilgart, I see… I finally get what you meant."

He looked at his tiny hands, those of a very young boy, then walked toward the entrance.

"Lucy… if this is what it takes to meet you again then I'll gladly choose the same path."*

*******

"Dear contestants, the Red Tower will open its doors in three days, please ready yourselves."

A robotic voice of a female came out of the red envelope handed by the Joker. The thousand people in possession of the envelope clearly heard the voice and started heading toward the tower.

Most of them had already reached the destination and were patiently waiting. As the Red Tower was absolutely ginormous, its surroundings were equally large so the several hundred people were quite a distance away from each other, unwilling to fight and merely meditated in silence.

There was some friction between rivals and enemies but they didn't fight to death and decided to contest inside this marvelous artifact before them.

Around three hours ago, Lucy arrived near the tower and joined with Forne, Artid, and one more person belonging to the Nine Seats. It was the Grey Seat of Decay, a woman by the name of Celes.

"You've come, which means you agree to our plan."

Forne spoke to the silence Lucy, whose face was changed thanks to the special mask.

"Hmpf!"

She snorted but didn't object, which made Forne grumble, disliking her attitude but choosing not to comment. A couple of minutes later, other people joined their small camp.

One was a person Lucy was very familiar with, a man wearing a black suit and holding a small cane, his face blurry, hidden by magic. There was also the middle-aged man residing in Underworld, he brought with him the Void Behemoth, which took a much smaller form as to not attract attention.

Three of the Nine Seats of Black Rose, Lucy, 'X', G'am Tir, and the Void Behemoth… these seven decided to form an alliance in order to take down one entity.

"Remember, our goal is to reach the top floor safely. Our target is the Nameless Knight." Forne solemnly said while looking at everyone present.

"Didn't you say he's not our target?"-Lucy

"Well, technically, he's not. The real danger is what's inside him… a pest that only emerges rarely. Its name is Sol'khin."

VOLUME 11 : The Red Tower

*****

Hey, Crow here. I want to say that I wasn't going to write this volume(10) but decided to do so because it helps explain many things in the story. In the beginning, Arthur found Zodiak's body but I don't want to just call him 'lucky' for finding a cave that has the body of a mythical being. I wanted to explain how the body arrived there, who is the owner and what's his relation with Arthur.

Before you ask, I'll say that the next volume will have Arthur and it'll not be a flashback of some sort. I don't want to lengthen the story more than needed, whatever I have in mind will be written and all that I deem unnecessary will not be mentioned. I'm not saying the story is almost finished, neither is it still at the beginning phase.

What I want is a satisfying end that, when read, will explain anything mysterious in the story. Of course, something will remain hidden and will only be revealed in Leiu or the Joker's story.

Now, Let me explain a few things so that some of you will not remain confused. In this volume, there was a scene when Arthur was shopping and found a figurine that resembled the crocodile Zodiak encountered when he was young. This scene happened right after the end of Volume 10, when the second cycle began and Arthur is reliving his life on Earth while choosing the same path, purposely getting close to Claudia in order to get kidnapped, etc...

From the looks of it, albeit having the soul separated in two, he still regained some of Zodiak's memories.

The scene where Zodiak and Aneirin witnessed Leiu kill Death (in Serenity/past), the boy who escaped at the end was the same old man who took Anastassia as his disciple, grooming her to be the next Death.

If you have any more questions, please ask in the comment and I'll try to answer.

Thanks for reading so far! I appreciate it.