Arthur also heard what the mortal said but he had no time to deal Esco, who disappeared without anyone noticing him.

The form of the Vermillion Bird vanished, being replaced by a black tortoise with countless pointy and sharp scales covering its massive back which stretched for hundreds of meters.

The Divine Beast let out a deep threatening growl and positioned itself above the Spirit Boat. The sand continued is relentless attacks, becoming more variant and ruthless.

The ginormous solid sand hands were but the beginning as a mud giant sprung from below and attempted to grab the ship and pull it down. The black tortoise, along with the Quad-Spirit attacked at the same time. Dark Magic emanated from the Divine Beast, crashing into the giant like a meteor whilst the spirit used its Gravity Magic to slow down the monster and followed up with death storm. Furthermore, another giant, no smaller than the enemy's, made its appearance. This one enveloped by orange flames from head to toe and wielded the famous Spear of Terros, which had a dragon coiling around it.

The flame giant was sentient and had its own awareness, after all, it originated from the Fire Spirit absorbed by Arthur when he was in Green-Leaf. With the spear in its hands, the giant swept it horizontally, unleashing a wave of flames and attempted cutting the target in two but the spear just passed through the sand as if it was air.

Arthur was forced to focus on other enemies as the spirit boat was soon surrounded by a couple of sand giants and dozens of those slow but big hands which mainly floated high-up in the air.

Fortunately, Zaarae was also providing needy assistance as Arthur wasn't able to handle everything on his own. Additionally, Radolf joined the fray but his twin companion stayed on the deck to protect Edward in case something happens.

The origin of the problem was most likely Esco, who should have escaped the boat but what's confusing is that the golden sand didn't stop its attacks and didn't chase after the culprit.

"That thief must've stolen something precious, it's the only explanation."

The only thing that Edward was missing was a bucket of popcorn. He was no different than a person watching a 3D movie, his eyes would shift from one explosion to another, totally fascinated by these 'fireworks', which all humans dream about but can never witness.

"Arthur! Find the rat and I'll deal with the rest."

Zaarae telepathically spoke to the parasite as she jumped in the air right after gently pushing Shen Shen next to Midolf.

The white-haired mythical being inwardly cursed and raised his hand and emitted a burst of white blinding light which enveloped the little girl.

This light was filled with a pure and dense amount of Life Energy as well as a self-acting wind. Just like Shen Shen, who's now in possession of the Origin Water, Midolf too, as a creature born from the Wind and Life Energies, he's able to manipulate the Origin Wind, also known as the Zero Gale.

The Empress' gorgeous black dress was replaced by a light red armor which protected her chest, shoulders, thighs, knees, and neck. Her aura rose to the skies, splitting it and blasting all the nearby sands with an unstoppable shock wave.

She was one of the twelve, albeit weakened, so when she goes all out, there's little that can stop her. Her form distorted as she appeared simultaneously as several places, one punch from her would turn the sand giants into nothing but air.

…

Inside the ship, a half-transparent wraith with no lower body and a face made of brown decaying skin and two black eyeballs was roaming the quiet yet shaking place.

Arthur used [The Griffin's Bloody Switch] and temporarily converted his Wisdom and Intelligence into Dexterity and Agility, raising his senses to an alarming degree.

Since the sand continued to attack then Esco, who's actually the thief he encountered on several occasions, was hiding here, most likely in total Stealth.

There were several inconsistencies about Esco being a thief. How, like, before they even arrived in the Ramel Kingdom, the thief was already known by Sun Wukong and the royal family as they tried to catch him.

He roamed the kingdom and stole many valuable treasures. As for Esco, he had been imprisoned and always in close proximity to Arthur so it made no sense how he was in many places at the same time.

Furthermore, how was he able to fool both him and Zaarae and act like a weak bystander. Not even his special eyes, which are able to uncover all illusions and appearance-changing artifacts were able to break the thief's masquerade.

A minute after the other passed yet there were no signs of anyone hiding in the boat's cabin. Arthur's mastery with Space Magic is high enough to detect the presence of any isolated dimension, plus, with his current perception, which was backed by an unbelievable Dexterity, allows him to feel the moving and minuscule bacteria and lifeforms found inside every material and even the air.

Seeing no purpose in continuing to search for him secretly and using this method, Arthur's form changed as he latched himself into the metallic ground, cracking some of it.

A few breaths later, a small jet black sprout sprung from below and quickly grew into a spiky poisonous tree. A green fog emanated from its branches while Dark Magic spread like crazy all over the Spirit Boat, turning it into a world of absolute darkness where you can't see a thing.

The Darkness was ominous as, one by one, one meter long spikes came out of all sides, stabbing the empty air. Even with no successful result, Arthur didn't stop as the space cracked and the air was filled with a dangerous amount of paralyzing poison.

Time crept by and, at some point, with any warning, a swift shadow dashed toward the tree and attacked. Unfortunately, the attack was futile as the weapon he used melted the moment it made contact with the unseen black tree, which melted with its surroundings and was covered in the White Tiger's acid.

Long and thin vines appeared from the ground and tried to capture the assailant but he hastily backed away and easily cut away anything that got within a meter of him.

Arthur, who was able to see clearly in this darkness, which was his own handiwork, used Carpentine's unique ability. In a split second, both the tree and the attacker found themselves in massive world filled with all types of snakes, their hisses resounding across the whole place.

Arthur saw the red-haired individual, clothed strangely and holding some sort of a green and short scycle. He was about to use Telekinesis to corner the target and finish him off with one Heavenly Arrow but the latter just stood motionless before letting go of the scycle and slowly falling on the ground.

Esco's skin suffered change as it turned wooden and his facial features vanished.

"A puppet?"

Arthur recognized this humanoid object and instantly understood the situation. It turns out that thief was actually a puppet master, and a high-leveled one, at that.

Thinking logically, Esco was just an imprisoned puppet and its master was the shape-shifting thief.

"He should be a shapeshifter puppeteer."

Arthur changed back to his real form and left the snake-world but upon his reappearance inside the boat's cabin, he was hit by a silver spear in his chest, and cut by a dagger from the back.

The assailants also seemed to be puppets as they didn't seem as strong as the thief from back then. Furthermore, their attacks weren't even able to pierce through Arthur's defense, which was empowered by the Black-Star Strengthening technique.

The spear broke the black layer protecting his skin but wasn't able to inflict any kind of injury. As for the dagger, it literally snapped in half and fell on the ground.

Using [Thought and Effect] coupled with the Natural Lightning and the invisible threads, Arthur was able to defeat the puppets in one move. The one behind him wanted to retract his hand but the threads wrapped around it and the lightning zapped him and burst his head. As for the spear-wielding one, it was subjected to the monstrous of the Telekinesis.

The puppet was flattened on the ground and stabbed by multiple black spikes.

Arthur swept his sense but found no other enemies, moreover, the one controlling them isn't inside the cabin.

'Where could he be?'

In a flash, the parasite reappeared on the deck, where Midolf and co were.

"You didn't find him, right? Figured."

Edward looked at stone-faced Arthur and guessed the outcome almost immediately. He glanced at the rampaging Zaarae before stepping closer to Midolf and Shen Shen.

His actions seemed natural, as if he wanted to feel more secure, however, he abruptly retrieved his seemingly normal plastic scissors and stabbed at the blue-haired girl, freaking out Midolf.

The Zero Gale protecting the girl retaliated, sending the mortal flying until he the study walls of the boat's cabin. Edward had broken many bones and wasn't even able to get up but his scissors were blasted with him and were actually able to pass through the Origin Wind and reach its target.

Shen Shen, who was equally startled, took a step back but the scissors, which seemed to have a conscious of its own, swifty followed her and reached her shoulder.

What was expected didn't happen and, instead, the girl's form distorted and was replaced by countless other appearances… a female orc, an angel, a male bearded-dwarf, and so on.

"Hahaha" Edward laughed while coughing blood, feeling proud of his discovery.

Midolf was scared out of his wits as he jumped back, not knowing whether to continue protecting the little girl or attack. It was clearly not Shen Shen, however, Arthur's pendant and Zaarae's bracelet, which were on the little girl's body, were definitely real.

Arthur frowned and appeared before the distorting Shen Shen. He didn't hesitate as he used Telekinesis to crush the target's whole legs, making it kneel. A dangerous violent whirlpool appeared in his hands and although it was minuscule, it was madly devouring the air and the grains of sand lingering all around them.

"Where's she?"

The whirlpool closened on the shapeshifter, who knelt there, defeated and surprised by this sudden shift of events. He never thought he'll be discovered as long as he took Shen Shen's appearance but Edward, out of everyone, was the one did the unexpected and revealed the shocking truth.

"Where did you hide her?"

Only when he felt his insides being sucked into the Void and his whole life-force being sucked away did the shapeshifter start giving up.

With a shaky voice and ever-changing face, he muttered,

"S-she's not h,here."

Arthur was extremely angry as he held the shapeshifter by his throat and applied more force than necessary, a bit more and he could end the thief's life. He didn't even notice that Shen Shen was just a fake, he even wondered when she was taken and 'replaced'.

She accompanied him since the moment they left the prison and they've been separated only when he chased after the thief back when he was tricked by that 'old man' and robbed of his storage.

The spirit boat was falling from the sky and the golden moving sand was becoming stronger, though Zaarae was able to defeat anything that got close.

"Speak! Where did you take her? Where is she?"

The Shapeshifter's body was invaded by Dark Magic and Natural Lightning and despite being a high-leveled player, his high defense could not negate the weakening of the Dark Magic or the lethal vibration of the green lightning.

A sorry-looking bloody figure, with a lot of difficulties, managed to drag his body next to Arthur. Edward spat more blood, still grinning, he said

"The girl can wait. We must know what he did to incur the God's wrath!"

Just as Edward spoke, a deafening noise echoed, followed by a golden light which flew from afar and instantly landed meters away from the parasite.

She had a graceful body, bronze skin and wore a shiny armor. Her long black hair fell on her shoulder, she was a real beauty with an exceptional appearance. The parasite recognized this woman, who's known to be a legendary fighter and the wife of Philos, the God of Sand.