"We will pass through the Sky Door the moment it appears."

Forne calmly said, his gaze jumping from one person to another. There were multiple individuals facing him, all are part of a group and intend to take down Sol'khin. There was X, the Void Behemoth, G'am Tir, Lucy, and Celes. Zodiak was missing but he wasn't part of their 'alliance' though his intentions are similar to theirs.

"What about the city?"-Lucy

Hearing her out-of-the-blue question, the Black Seat frowned and retorted:

"What about it? Our job is to climb the tower and not protect an unknown territory."

X also butted in, mockingly saying:

"Don't tell me you want to protect the people here?"

"No, I was just asking."

Without even looking at the blurry-faced man, Lucy snorted and maintained her silence.

"Anyway, the enemy forces will siege this place at dusk, most likely. We'll move together and secure a safe path."

After going through the rather simplistic and straightforward plan, they all dispersed, each minding their own business.

It has been two days since the contestants were teleported to this city and, from what the Red Tower said, the siege will occur very soon.

Some positioned themselves above the walls, along with the mix-raced soldiers, wanting to gain points and protect the city for some time. Others hid inside the city, unwilling to participate, their only goal was the Sky Door, which nobody knew how to it looked like or where it is.

One thing is for sure; the Sky Door is bound to appear with the alien race. It wasn't obligatory to kill or protect the city, however, it was highly advised to obtain some points for the sake of a better journey to the top floor as the goods from the Luxury Shop are useful and overpowered, even.

Arthur spent two days doing nothing in particular. At night, he'll chat for a bit with Ber Von Xin then go wander around the city, sometimes meeting participants lurking in dark places, doing shady and unnecessary things.

Time crept by and, finally, with the rising bright sun, D-day began. It all began with a loud alarm echoed across the whole city, waking up and soldiers and alerting all the inhabitants.

Excluding the contestants, there were quite a few distinguishable and strong characters standing atop the high walls. The city lord was one of them, he was adorned in a grey and thick armor, a dark gold helmet and a long two-handed white sword on his back.

Despite having their skills and techniques 'disabled', none of the present contestants is powerless… in fact, they should be able to annihilate the enemy forces if they all joined hands. Unfortunately, only a meager amount allied with the army while the rest stood at the back and watched the show.

As the light of the sun started to illuminate the dark sky, the ground started lightly shaking before it transformed into violent tremors. North-east, East, and South-east of the city, the terrain was rocky, making it rather disadvantageous to attack from there, so the aliens all came the West.

The thousands of archers prepared their arrows, some burning and others coated with poison or enhancement-magic, drastically increasing their damage. The wall was crowded with people, so was the ground, on which fifteen to twenty thousand soldiers unsheathed their weapons and raised their shields.

Arthur, who stood at the far edge of the wall, calmly looked at the beginning of this siege, his gaze lingering on the enemy forces. Their size was twice if not thrice that of beastmen and humans, they had four, six, or eight arms and their face is hideous, to say the least.

They brought with them a savage and barbaric red aura that affected anyone weak-willed and even affected the environment.

'Should've expected them to be here.'

"Master, they're different from the normal Cthulhu. They move in a precise formation and seem to be much more intelligent."

The Quad-Spirit could see them clearly due to its high Earth Magic mastery. Through the shaking ground, it managed to study their marching formation and located what seemed to be the leaders.

'Intelligent or not, it matters not. Their creepy laughter and the nauseous smell of blood remains present. They're monsters.'

"It'll be harder than expected. The Sky Door is well-protected."

Though he couldn't see what the spirit was talking about, Arthur still trusted its words.

Several minutes later, a looming shadow came from afar, bringing with it an enormous shadow reaching all the way to the high wall surrounding the city. Gargantuan Cthulhu were using chains to drag a massive black metal door, its height easily reached 50 meters if not more.

"Master, aren't you going to participate?"

'It's still too early. The big shots have not shown themselves either… well, except for that freak.'

As he replied to the Spirit, Arthur glanced at a green-haired woman standing at the front of the vanguard. She has unsheathed her sword and laughing while waiting for the Cthulhu to come closer. Right behind her, there was the mage Tula, the dwarf, the thief, and two others. One was a woman wearing a long white and red robe, a priest, from the looks of it, while the other was a tall and muscular man covered in blue tattoos.

'Have you found any traces of Zodiak?'

"No, he's either not in the city or in a place void of Earth and Fire."

'Tsk!'

Arthur clicked his tongue, feeling a bit uneasy. Ever since he found out that Zodiak is alive and kicking, he couldn't sit still. Furthermore, that old man wants to kill Sol'khin too, making him sort of Arthur's enemy.

Unlike Celes, X, and the rest, Zodiak is different in a way that can threaten Arthur.

The parasite still had some of his reincarnation's memories so he knew what the old man is capable of with Dark Magic alone. His attainment in that malevolent ability is nothing short of extraordinary.

Sure, Arthur can utilize Dark Magic well too but many of Zodiak's skills didn't get passed to him. For example, the ability to dodge attacks by changing parts of your body into an untouchable form such as gas or liquid.

It sounds simple but it allowed Zodiak to counter many, many enemies, easily passing through ultimate attacks and forbidden spells. The White Tiger's skill is similar to this but it's temporary and costs an absurd amount of Mana and Nether Energy.