"Out of the question."

Arthur replied coldly to Alda, who slowly approached him after talking with the female clerk for a couple of minutes. He was able to clearly hear their conversation and easily guessed the woman's motive.

"Senior…"

Words got stuck in her woman as she saw Arthur and Lucy get up and walk toward the bespectacled clerk who just came back with a storage ring containing the live Retour Poisson they just bought.

The parasite received the ring and put the fish in his before leaving the underground room along with his wife. Alda and the short Overgod followed them while keeping their distance but just the second the couple left the building, they literally vanished, rendering the other group unable to trace them.

"Alda, what do we do?"

A young girl with short red hair nudged the distressed woman and asked with a low voice.

"We need to dive a deep so an average fish won't do the job. Although it's dangerous, we must try to join with those seniors, no matter the cost."

She cast a glare at the Overgod, who shrunk his neck and lowered his head.

"Which means that you must forget your status and act accordingly, understood?"

Alda was much weaker than the short man but he accepted her words and didn't object at all, not after meeting Arthur head-on and experiencing his magic, which still lurks inside his body to this very moment. Unless the parasite personally and willingly removed the Dark Magic, it'll remain inside his body forever, eating his energy and affecting his moral.

"B-but… they could kill us!"

Another youngling, a boy who looked no older than 15, also joined the conversation, appearing as afraid as the rest.

"We'll be killed either way, at least dying while trying is better!"

Alda clenched her fists and continued walking and looking around, trying to locate Arthur and Lucy, who were already on the coast and ready to depart.

…

"Arthur! What's wrong?"

Lucy supported Arthur, who was about to fall while holding his chest. His face was as pale as a sheet of paper and strangely convulsing. It happened so abruptly which startled her.

"It's Makaze!"

He spat some blood and was gently laid on the ground by Lucy. She slowly poured a High-grade healing potion in his mouth, her expression very different from the usual cold and emotionless one.

"What happened to Makaze?"

"I can feel it…"

Black flames were covering his body then disappearing in a systematic matter.

"Someone is trying to take it… they're trying to break into the cave!"

"Who are they?"

"I don't know but they're strong!"

Arthur coughed one final mouthful of blood before falling unconscious, black flames totally enveloped him, causing even Lucy to back away. They re-did the Soul Bind, however, those black flames originate from Evil Wind and it seemed to be both enraged and desperate as it repeatedly called to its partner.

The very next day, early morning, Lucy was still standing three to four meters away from the still-unconscious Arthur. A small group of people landed a distance away and eyed the two before letting out a decent-sized scaled fish into the waters. It was docile as it waited for the passengers to board its back.

Unfortunately for them, Lucy immediately noticed their arrival and appeared right next to their leader. The woman named Alda took a step back as she saw the silver-haired woman. She also saw the seniors from afar but decided not to meddle but it seems trouble came knocking at her door.

The fish Lucy and Arthur bought was in the latter's storage, which was currently inaccessible. Lucy wanted to reach the location where Makaze is being held so she could stop the assailants and help Arthur reunite with his partner.

"Senior."

Alda bowed toward Lucy and didn't raise her back, waiting for Lucy to respond with anything.

"Let us come with you."

It's quite ironic, after all, the situation was the opposite just yesterday but here she is, requesting to go with them. Of course, Lucy could forcefully take it but she decided against it.

The Overgod and the rest kept their mouths shut, as for Alda, she thought for a few breaths before politely replying.

"With pleasure, senior."

She motioned Lucy to the fish with her hand and then glanced at Arthur, who was still laying there, clearly unconscious.

Lucy waved her hand, enveloping Arthur in a silvery-blue aura which raised him above ground then slowly put him on the Retour Poisson's back.

With the exception of Lucy, everyone else avoided Arthur due to the black flames covering him from head to toe. They were curious about his condition but none voiced their thoughts or even got closer to Lucy, who sat next to her husband and ignored the rest.

Very soon, the fish dived underwater and conjured a semi-transparent spheric barrier which blocked the Rose Sea's aura as well as the water from getting in.

In just a few minutes, the environment around the fish became inky black and the barrier around the fish was slowly but surely dimming. Alda took out a creaky small lantern and raised it in the air before injecting it with a bit of Nether Energy.

The lantern was like a flashlight, illuminating the way ahead of the fish and making the rest feel a bit more secure now that they saw where they were going.

Unlike Arthur, Lucy had no way of pinpointing Makaze's exact location even if she got closer to she had to rely on her instincts. It doesn't matter if Alda's group had the same destination as her, she'll do anything to reach Timos' world, which was hidden somewhere in the Rose Sea.

That paradise where she and Arthur trained back in Riarravar, it's a separate world which must have a two-way portal. She wasn't experienced in Space Magic but her Realm was high enough for her to sense it and even use it.

An hour after their departure, the fish's speed was slower than a turtle but that's to be expected as it's not a rare one and the water's pressure was increasing the deeper they went.

*****

Four hours after the Retour Poisson entered the pink-colored waters, something so massive that it blocked the sun rays appeared above the Rose Sea.

Its sudden appearance alerted almost all the travelers and forced most of them to leave. It was one of the special combat Spaceships belonging to the system. It was hundreds of kilometers long and its size cast a big shadow over the shiny and calm sea.

"Report; C-Spaceship N-228 reached the specified coordinates. Beginning the search for the target; Arthur MoonStar in 1999 minutes and 48 seconds."

A robotic voice was transmitted from the spaceship to the commanding System far away from there.

After a couple of seconds, the spaceship received an answer.

"Approval of the search. Must capture the target, Arthur MoonStar, alive and bring him to the X-TR500 planet. Reinforcements are on standby."

"Requesting approval of the use of the 'device'."

"Approved. The 'device' is only to be used in emergency situations."