By the time the first contestant reached the 47th floor, three were eliminated, leaving only 18 inside the Red Tower. In addition to 'X', Maktis, who's Xyktia, also caught up and they started competing for the lead. The 16 others were on the 46th floor, where things got really bloody.

Arthur fought Amtir again and managed to kick him out of the tower, though he had to hit him two consecutive times with his sword, which consumed a great deal of energy and sucked a lot of his life essence. While he can recover it with time and Life Magic, the backlash was even a parasite like him couldn't resist.

He felt incredible dizziness and fatigue which greatly slowed his movements and rendered him vulnerable for a few minutes. Using an expensive defensive formation and the body of the Black Turtle, Arthur was forced to receive the joint frontal attacks of Leo and the Saber Saint, who teamed up and clearly wanted to take him down.

Leo was an experienced martial artist who used two hardened wooden batons, he was from the Heaven and Hell Universe and his fighting style could be described as strange. As for the Saber Saint, he obviously used a saber and was truly a strong individual. His saber attacks are deadly and faster than any of Arthur's attacks. The two didn't have any personal grudge against the parasite, they just wanted to eliminate the parasite because he's considered a big threat to them as he can transform into many things, which can be troublesome later on.

Fortunately, before they could breakthrough Arthur's multi-layered defense, the robot AXYT-48 intervened and started indiscriminately attacking everyone.

*****

"Is that supposed to scare me?"

'X' leaned on his cane and mockingly said to the black-haired man gazing back at him. For a split second, she revealed her real appearance to him but he wasn't the least bit afraid. She was the one who forcefully tasked him to search for the Divine Swords and, at that time, he had to obey or die, however, the situation was different inside the tower.

"I can feel that you're not as strong as when you were trapped. Oh, and I could care less about your motive… just don't bother me, eh?"

He turned around and was about to leave but a black shadow lunged at him. The attacker's sword went through the target as 'X' teleported a distance away then glanced at the tall undead standing in his previous position.

The undead was a Death Knight specially summoned by the creator of Necromancy. It boasted a monstrous strength and a great speed and that is without including its flawless control over Death Magic.

It wasn't like Arthur's summons, which, at most, can fight against a new God. This Death Knight can fight and even defeat an Overgod and it's but one of her undead, if she were to summon her strongest servant, she would be able to defeat all the contestants.

"That's a strong undead but I reckon it's the only one you can summon here. The Joker is watching and I don't think he'll allow you to bring forth something that could break the balance of the competition. Now then…"

He waved his hand and vanished, leaving an expressionless Xyktia behind.

"What a strange man."

She snorted and turned invisible, her summon was also affected by the stealth and followed right behind her.

…

The competition inside the Red Tower began a bit less than two months ago and it was almost time for the grand show to begin. Although those who're outside didn't know what's happening inside this massive structure, they could feel that the end is nigh. The Red Tower was glowing with a blinding crimson gold glow, the card symbols were continuously changing colors and expanding in size, covering almost the entirety of the sky-piercing tower.

The army of Holy Knights doubled in size and blocked all sides of the tower and waited for the parasite to emerge for more than a month. The peaceful atmosphere and their dominance was broken when a thousand or so cultivators wearing the same attire appeared out of nowhere and attacked them.

Apparently, they all belonged to the Kang Clan and were above the God Realm. Individually, they were very strong end managed to push back the dominion's forces out of the area surrounding the Red Tower.

Seraph, the man leading the Holy Knights battled someone both Arthur and Lucy were quite familiar with. He was a middle-aged man they met in the Underworld, he went by the name of Azure Bai.

He was the vice-master of the Kang Clan and the Blue Seat of Wisdom of Black Rose, those the second identity was known only to few people. Despite having the numerical advantage, the Holy Dominion suffered one loss after the other and, to make matters worse for them, the Overgod Dan and Wrath, both trusted confidants of Isadore Malfront, King of Green Leaf, appeared in the battlefield and openly helped the Kang Clan.

Although Seraph's army was defeated multiple times, they didn't back down, instead, they called for more reinforcements, fully determined to get Arthur, dead or alive.

"Rin, how's it hanging?"

Bai poured some tea for the bard sitting next to him. From the way they talked to each other, you could see they were close friends.

Aneirin's attention was focused on a beautiful woman who accompanied Azure Bai here. She was the second-in-command and had a mature look and a revealing dress that exposed much skin. For a womanize like the wandering poet, he simply couldn't take his eyes off her, he couldn't even hear what his friend said.

The woman stood next to her leader and pretended to ignore the stranger's fiery gaze. As for Azure Bai, he chuckled and said:

"I'll properly introduce you two later so how about you tell me why you're here?"

He waved his hand in front of the poet's face, snapping him out of his long daze.

"Ehm I'm just meeting an old friend."

"And who might that be?" Bai tried to probe further but the bard just dropped his head on the table and closed his eyes, trying to take a nap.

*****

"You think this is a good place?"

Sonia, the current vice-master of the MoonStar Sect, looked around while asking her Robin and Mary, who accompanied her here. They appeared in the desolate Eastern lands of Green Leaf, where only a few old races live, like the Pigolo and the Nagas.

As per Arthur's instruction, it's finally time to expand the sect and there's no better starting place than here. Isadore offered his help in establishing the first branch here and provided them with soldiers and materials to start the construction.

Robin pushed back her glasses, crouched down and touched the dirt, which lacked any type of energy. The land was infertile and the weather is always hot but Arthur insisted to start here because he knew how to change it. The wasteland took a big portion of Green Leaf and it's pretty much uninhabitable so the sect manages to dominate this land, it won't be hard to expand to the outside world.

"I smell nothing. There's no grass or even insects."

Mary sniffed the air but ended up shivering, clearly disliking how this place felt. It was no different from a land of death and without the talisman provided by the king, they wouldn't be able to survive on their own.

In addition to the three women, the young Rey, who looked more mature, there was also a few strong individuals in the air. There dozens of wraiths and three large bone dragons, the very first Arthur ever summoned.

The main one had a body that was over four hundred meters in length and can even fight against a God, which is more than enough to guarantee the safety of its master's friends.

"It doesn't matter as long as we use what Arthur gave us."

Rey was playing with a ball of Dark Magic while saying that but he ended up getting smacked by an angry Robin, who berated:

"I told you to call him Sir Arthur."

The boy shrugged his shoulders and kept his lips tightly shut, unwilling to anger his guardian.

This small group changed locations a few times until they stumbled upon a piece of land surrounded by rocky hills, the perfect place to build a thriving city. The workers sent by Isadore were confused but they didn't voice their opinion and just followed Sonia, who didn't look particularly strong.

The red-haired vice-master took out a sprout from her storage and meticulously planted it on the lifeless ground. Within seconds, the sprouted grew bigger and bigger and affected everything around it, beginning from the ground. Grass and trees started rapidly growing, all kinds of vegetation covered the area, making it look more pleasant. As for the source of this, the sprout grew into an incredibly large tree which started changing forms until it became a tower similar to the one on Astria. It was made from white magic-resistant bricks and the symbol of the sect on its center.

The king's people were flabbergasted as they witnessed this magical sight. They thought they had to build everything from scratch but within minutes, a tower and a few large buildings rose from below, moreover, the lifeless earth showed signs of recovery, and the sky was soon covered by clouds, from which rain started pouring down.

"It really works."

Rey stood there in disbelief, amazed by the effects of a single sprout. It was given to them by Arthur, who created it using his spirit's help along with Nature Magic. The largest dragon landed on the tower's roof and crouched down, entering a slumber as its body started resembling a statue. It was tasked to protect Sonia and co and now that part of the city was built, it only had to rest and act if trouble arises.

As for the workers, Sonia told them to start building the rest of the city using the materials provided by Isadore. They were the best in their respective fields and it won't take long for this small city to be completed.