Zaarae stretched her right hand, about to hand the Zen Treasure to Arthur, however, the moment she did that, a fast shadow appeared in between the two and snatched the small yellow pyramid, startling both Arthur and the Empress.

Zaarae was the first to act as she stomped her foot on the ground, causing the speeding shadow to roll on the ground, then she grabbed the air and pulled it, making the thief fly closer to her. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough as the unseen enemy dispersed into hundreds of black particles which flew a distance before forming into a humanoid silhouette.

Arthur used his Telekinesis and the Quad-Spirit Gravity to slow down the thief but neither seemed to work as he disappeared into the horizon within seconds. What was fascinating was how even the Empress was unable to stop him.

"A thieving shapeshifter."-Commented the Empress while frowning, clearly not pleased with losing the Zen Treasure.

"He'll come back."

Arthur pointed at his exquisitely carved storage ring, which belongs to the thief. Even though the value of a Zen Treasure is priceless, Arthur was sure that the thief will return to reclaim is belongings.

"He stole the Zen Treasure on purpose. He'll want a trade of some sort." Said Fariya while looking at the dark yet faint footstep traces left by the shapeshifter.

The parasite shrugged and casually said,

"I don't need the Zen Treasure so there will be no trade."

…

Around fifteen minutes later, Arthur, Zaarae, Shen Shen, Fariya, and Radolf, appeared in front of the Karima's tomb, which was protected by a unique barrier. Ram Su was still wrapped in bandages, able only to whimper and glare at the perpetrators behind his clan's fall.

"If you accepted the sandglass and obediently let me inside, none of this would have happened. I guess Kass was very short-sighted to think there's hope for you guys."

Arthur sighed and shook his head, disappointed but not regretful over the death of the Fallen God Clan. It wasn't a strong clan but it had an ancient and respected heritage, after all, its founder is none other than Philos, the God of Sand.

After he possesses Karima's body, not only will his stats increase, his cultivation should reach the peak of the Overgod Realm and his Celestial Body should reach completion but since he's a clone, it won't be perfected, at least not until he fuses back with the original. Additionally, he'll be able to control the sand and demonstrate its destructive and flexible powers.

At first, Ram Su didn't want to unlock the barrier but Arthur's Dark Extraction, which allowed him to see the victim's memories and inflict and hellish pain, made the clan master as obedient as a dog. Of course, Zaarae made sure Shen Shen saw nothing of this brutal sight as she's still a little kid.

The barrier took two minutes to fully deactivate, showing a grandiose golden room where its walls, ground, and roof, were engraved with archaic symbols belonging to the Gods. At the center of this room, there laid a coffin that was over three meters long and two meters wide, seemingly belonging to a giant rather than a human. The tomb was rich with pure earthen energy, making the Quad-Spirit exhilarated as it madly absorbed all of it.

"Master, when you possess Karima, I should also be able to control Sand too."

"Her body should be inside the coffin, go ahead."

Zaarae smiled at Arthur and motioned for the rest to not move as it's not that safe in here. This still remains the resting place of Karima, Philos' wife, and were it not for the use of the blood essence, not even the Empress could have entered.

Arthur walked to the closed coffin, slowly opened it with a push of his hand, revealing the still intact corpse of the legendary Karima. Even after the passing of time, her skin looked healthy, it was a shiny bronze, utterly void of any speck of dust. She had a fair long black hair and two round and relatively long golden earrings which reached her shoulders. She seemed to have something similar to cosmetics in her eyes and eye-lashes, even her lips were red, adding more to her beauty.

Karima wore a simple brown robe with three vertical lines around the chest, there was also a pendant-like golden object wrapped around her slim neck. Even Arthur, who's used to seeing beauties on a daily basis, was captivated by her mature charm and fair and memorable features.

"Don't fall for her." Berated Zaarae as she snorted and turned her head away.

"Master, fighting!"

The succubus the opposite, she raised her fist and encouraged her master while giggling. Without further ado, Arthur transformed into a small black whirlpool that invaded the corpse and possessed it.

The next second, an incredibly long flood of notifications covered Arthur's view. He could also feel his Nether Energy and Mental Power pool became bigger, his muscles tightening and relaxing in a cyclic manner as they were strengthened.

Although what he just did is considered improper, Arthur only wanted Karima's stats and skills. He wasn't going to sully her body or ruin the place. After making sure the possession proceeded successfully, Arthur reappeared next to the coffin and closed it as if nothing happened.

"Good?" asked the Empress

"Yes, but I feel a bit strange."

"It's because this artificial body of yours isn't able to break through without the presence of the soul."

Arthur nodded his head and was about to say something only for a mass of Dark Magic to burst from his body, covering him and attempting to latch to his nearby companions. Fortunately, Zaarae was able to resist it by raising a translucent violet shield but the shock didn't disappear.

The parasite suddenly fell on the ground and clutched his chest, he was tightly gritting his teeth, holding himself from yelling but his expression clearly indicated that he was in so much pain.

The Empress wasn't the only one surprised, Fariya and Shen Shen were also confused and startled. The little girl wanted to go help him but was stopped by the Empress.

"What's happening to Master?"

The only one who might have an idea was the quiet Radolf, who was knitting his brows and appearing quite restless.

"There's nothing we can do. Technically, there's nothing wrong with the current 'him' but the main body is the problem, I think the real him is dying and the clones cannot continue to exist without the living soul."

"Can't you do something? Please!"

Shen Shen clung to the red-haired youth, tears welling up in her eyes. Arthur was laying on the ground, the Dark Magic was going out of control and he was turning illusory every few seconds.

The mythical being sighed and apologetically said, "I'm not eligible to interfere nor can I do anything in this situation."

Even the usually composed Zaarae was restless. Yes, she was powerful but she had no clue how to stop Arthur's suffering.

Time crept by and the tomb was soon enveloped by total darkness, eerie and ominous. Zaarae and the rest were forced to retreat out of the tomb, Arthur was the only source of light in that inky blackness, his body was giving off faint lights. The Quad-Spirit was doing its best to stop the dissipation of the clone, it went all-out and was able to hold for some time.

A strange multi-colored object, which was the Quad-Spirit, spun above Arthur's chest. It gave off a grey, red, and yellow radiances, which slowly expanded and subdued the Dark Magic.

This, however, was only the beginning of the series of shocking events as a blinding white light made its abrupt appearance. The first one to react and gasp was the Empress, whose eyes were glued onto a white frog with more than a hundred eyes. Just one glance made her instinctively shiver and recognize this rarely seen mythical being.

Right next to the Frog of Destiny, a mortal man wearing prisoner clothes was dumbly standing, momentarily confused before clarity filled his eyes.

"Geez… prophecies are really scary."

He nonchalantly retrieved a normal, plastic orange scissors from behind his back and walked toward Arthur. He gazed at the parasite for less than five seconds before he crouched down and seemingly cut the air. This simple action of his caused the world of darkness to instantaneously vanish along with the Frog of Destiny.