These invisible snakes belonged to Carpentine, they live in that sealed world and their only purpose is to track targets. Arthur was in possession of a thousand of them and as long as he dedicates all his power, even that thief can't escape from him. Sooner or later, that old man will show himself again inside the city and that's when the parasite will strike.

With all thousand invisible tiny snakes dispersed, each searching in an area, Arthur returned to Shen Shen's side and continued shopping. Although the king invited him to stay over, Arthur preferred the inn because it felt much safer than entering a tiger's den. Zaarae isn't with him yet and it's too early to trust the Fallen God Clan, then again, there's no need to purpose provoke them either.

…

In Ramel City, precisely in the slums, there was an area called the 'Garbage Drain', it's actually a sizable piece of land surrounded by a black and dirty wall over 10 meters in height. Around midnight of the same day, a short figure with brown greasy hair, a filthy thin body and smelly clothes was rummaging through the trash, trying to salvage something to eat.

Unbeknownst to him, there was an invisible snake lurking next to him, it silently hissed at him and projected its sight to its owner, Arthur. The distance between the inn and the slums was no less than 10 kilometers but Arthur's space magic allowed him instantaneously cross that distance. He was like a ghost, appearing behind the boy and stretching his hand, which was covered in a mass of ominous darkness.

The boy's face paled as he raised his hand, seemingly wanting to defend himself. He didn't look threatening and appraisal indicated that the kid was a mortal but Arthur was sure of his instincts, which is why he showed no hesitation.

Just when his hand was about to strike the boy, the latter vanished, leaving a blurry afterimages as he dashed away. Unfortunately for him, Arthur already prepared himself for this, ten defeaning thunderbolts descended from the night sky, hitting the area around Arthur in a circular manner.

He didn't know which way the boy will escape toward so he aimed at all directions and it worked, thankfully. The thunderbolt, which was as thick as an adult, descended upon the thin boy, who had an astonished expression as he retrieved a silver sword less than a meter in length, and swung it at the thunderbolt.

Quite surprisingly, the white godly thunderbolt was deflected but allowed Arthur to creep on the boy. For the first time since he acquired it, Arthur used [Thought and Effect], causing the boy's body to float in the air then violently smash into the ground. Loud sounds of breaking bones and rupturing muscles could be heard as the small figure coughed blood and glared at Arthur.

A monstrous force was pressing down on the boy, whose face was plastered on the ground, unable to move. The enhanced Telekinesis and the Quad-Spirit's gravity rendered the thief unable to lift a finger, much less escape, nevertheless, after a few seconds, he seemed to be relaxed.

"How did you know it was me?"

"…"

Arthur didn't reply as he used Telekinesis again, forcing the thief's storage ring out of his finger and equipping it. He glanced at the immobilized boy before coldly snorting and raising his hand and clenching it.

A suffocating and overwhelming force entered the thief's body, affecting his blood circulation and stagnating his Mana flow, rendering him unable to use his skills.

"I don't care who you are, just die."

Arthur didn't want to talk with him or know how he tricked him. He's an enemy, someone who has to be killed, that's all that matters. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to finish it as the boy abruptly turned into black dust and no matter how much he looked around, he found no traces of him.

"Master, it's a Dimensional stone."

"What? I thought it needs to be manually activated and what's with this black ash?"

"The one he just used belongs to the System. It's modified in a way that it auto-activates when the player is near-death. Actually, a lot of high-leveled players use it."

"Is there any way to negate it?"

"If timed perfectly, Master's Dark or Red Rizaki should cancel its spatial transportation. A Void Heavenly Arrow can intercept it too. There's also Carpentine unique ability but master needs to try it first."

Arthur looked at the large garbage dump before vanishing. It mattered not now that he escaped, the thief will come back reclaim his ring and that will be the time he dies. Arthur heavily injured him and even if he's in possession of miraculous healing potions, he'll still need time to recover. Moreover, Arthur didn't even go all-out, he just used Telekinesis, which became one of his strongest offensive powers thanks to Zaarae's 'blessing'.

Back in the inn, Fariya took one room for herself while Shen Shen stayed with Arthur. The little girl was sound asleep, she didn't even notice Arthur's brief disappearance.

As he appeared next to the blue-haired girl, Arthur chuckled and caressed her head for a while before checking the contents of the thief's storage.

'This…'

He sucked a deep breath, feeling genuine shocked. Even Zodiak, who has countless treasures in his storage, paled in comparison to what this thief had. There were all kinds of treasures, whether it's swords, sabers, armors, gloves, boots, hats, masks, potions, poisons, jewelry. Most seemed to belong to the system but some originated from the Cloud Sea Universe too.

There was also a staggering amount of Top Red Spirit Stones. Arthur thought for a moment before separating the useful things from the useless ones, then he put the ring in Shen Shen's finger.

Now, the thief's storage contained a few things and even, by some fluke, he manages to claim it back, he'll be very disappointed.

********

Evening of the next day.

-

"Empress, do you know what this is?"

The Monkey King crossed his arms and looked at the strange sight in front of him. It was a hole that had a width of fifty to sixty meters but what was strange about it was the mud-like puddle moving on its own and the creepy faces on its surface, they were looking back at the mythical being and the Empress. They continuously shrieked as if they wanted to get out, it was truly a bone-chilling sight.

Zaarae frowned, her eyes emitted a purple light which pierced the mud but did nothing.

"I can't say I do."

She got closer to the large puddle and the faces became louder and more restless. When she was within twenty meters of the hole, one of the faces shot up at her, opening its mouth wide. However, before it reached her, a golden beam struck it and turned it into falling dirt.

"Please be careful, Empress. Not all of them are powerful but two months ago, something more powerful attacked and almost dragged me inside."

"Two months? When did you discover this?"

"I passed by it when I was heading to the capital. It was about seven months ago and, apparently, it's getting bigger. When I first saw it, it was smaller than my head."

"This is not a simple mutation or a beast." She looked at the land surrounding the hole but apart from barren earth, there was nothing to comment on. The puddle of mud absorbed the golden sand and was expanding size, moreover, those hideous faces were giving her the creeps.

Never had she seen something like this, something that made her, one of the Twelve, feel threatened.

"Does anyone else know about this?"

"No, no one."

Zaarae looked at the puddle for the third time before taking out a small piece of blackened slimy skin and burned it using strange green flames. The resulting smoke rose into the air and spun in a circle, quickly transforming into a whirlpool. This was an emergency signal meant for another one of the Twelve, one who's more knowledgeable than Zaarae and is close to her. He was the Black Devil, Timos.

The Empress was just about to go back to the capital with Sun Wukong only for both of them to hear a frightening dragon cry that resounded across half of the Ramel Kingdom, it was so powerful that it caused the land to shake and the sand to rise into the air. It was soon followed by a force wave which enraged the winds and cracked the earth.

"Arthur?"

Zaarae wasn't as strong as before, nevertheless, as soon as she heard that dragonic shout, her form distorted and she appeared above the capital city of Ramel in a split second. The Monkey King wasn't able to replicate her teleportation so he had to run all the way back here, which may take some time.

The moment the Empress appeared, she saw a ginormous inky black dragon dominating the capital's sky. Its size was mind-numbing as it bit one of the kingdom's protectors, turning it into something akin to shattered glass. The city right under the dragon was turned into nothing but absolute devastation. The dragon showed no hesitation as it razed everything in its way, not even the protectors were able to do anything.

************

"Hey, Shen Shen, are you alright?"

The short girl with bulging chest worriedly asked her leader, the ruler of the Water Region. She was the only person allowed to call the Empress by her real name, which was childish but the woman decided to keep nonetheless.

"It's nothing."

The tall blue-haired woman waved her hand and told the girl to leave her alone for a while. As she was left alone, the woman caressed a beautiful pendant hanging on her neck, her mind drifting to the clouds. There were many reasons about her recent actions, one of them was to find out about her origins. She was sure her childhood memories were fabricated… they didn't seem real and she was sure the answer was in the encrypted book she found in the past.

"Vyncent… Vyncent, I know that name, I'm sure of it!"

No matter how hard she tried to remember, she couldn't. Ever since she cooperated with that Silver Dragon called Yamak, the whole situation became more complicated and incomprehensible. That boy called Jackob and that small piece of land disappeared so abruptly and further investigation led to nothing but more confusion.

She thought about visiting the Death Region again but the probability of reaching the manor a second time, especially without a guide, is close to non-existent.

…

Under the majestic crystalline blue castle inhabited by the Water Empress, there was a sacred area accessible only by the ruler of the region. Inside this place, which was exquisitely decorated and filled with shiny white crystals, there was a corpse that was twice as big as a normal human, it was frozen and suspended mid-air.

The body was that of a female with fair facial features and a graceful body. She was the first ruler of the Water Region and a person the current Empress deeply respected.

The blue-haired woman knelt before the frozen body and silently prayed, hoping to get some answers soon. The 'founder' of this region had many titles but the most common one was 'The Queen of Ice', however, very few knew her real name, Sonia.