Inside of a room reeking of distinct but equally foul smells, the Devil Doctor was carefully dissecting a decaying corpse of a humanoid creature. It had long and arching ears, strikingly similar to that of Elves, but its eyes and lips were stitched and the rest of its body were covered by clusters of thick black crystals.

While holding a scalper with one hand and forceps with the other, he poked the crystals before stabbing the scalper ever-so-slightly.

The crystals looked solid, but they were soft and easy to break. Upon contact, they shattered and revealed the blackened skin underneath it.

However, the other cluster of crystals let out a fierce reaction and spread to cover the entire body. It even turned spiky and tried to attack the Devil Doctor.

He quickly backed away and raised his bony fingers, causing the corpse to be swallowed into somesort of a crack in the air.

“Another failure.”

The Devil Doctor put his tools aside and sighed, his creepy and hollow eyes focusing on a particular spot near the laboratory’s entrance.

After a couple of breaths, a human-sized spherical entity appeared. It was an eye, jet-black with slit yellow pupils.

The Eye faced the Devil Doctor, a disembodied voice soon ringing in the laboratory.

“There is a meeting in one month.”

“I’m busy.”

“All members are obligated to attend.”

The Devil Doctor grunted but he didn’t object. The Circle of Damnation seldom had any meetings, some of the members would exchange information, but that was about it. Therefore, the fact that a collective meeting had been organized must mean that there was something important to discuss.

“The Black Priest has contacted me. A Parasite is hunting us. Exercise caution and do not engage with him.”

“A Parasite?”

“Yes.” The Eye’s pupil let out an ominous and darkened golden light as it displayed a vivid image of the Parasite fighting the Black Priest.

“We do not know his motives, but he has defeated the Black Priest.”

The Devil Doctor frowned as he looked at the recording.

“I repeat: If the Parasite comes for you, do not engage with him.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice. I know.”

“The Unholy Necromancer had told me to repeat that to you specifically. Very little is known about the Parasite and it is likely that he’s working with Nader.”

The old man snorted but didn’t give any vocal answer. The Eye floated for a couple of silence, maintaining a short silence before speaking again,

“Lastly, do not get close to Green’s End. We've been notified that that area will soon become dangerous. In fact, It is preferable to steer away from Archwood entirely.”

“I wasn’t planning on leaving the desert. What’s happening?”

"War is coming. The meeting shall take place in the same place as usual. Make sure you’re not followed and do not bring anyone with you.”

The Eye vanished into thin air thereafter, leaving the Devil Doctor slightly confused.

He mostly kept to himself and rarely left his laboratory. Just like most of the members of the Circle of Damnation, he had joined to get access to unobtainable resources and valuable information. However, he wasn’t fond of any one of them. The Unholy Necromancer most of all.

Amris Village.

The Gargoyle returned the children, but he didn’t leave immediately. It stood there, furiously flapping its functional wing while unleashing an explosive energy.

“Were it not for the Binding Covenant…”

Its voice was filled with frustration and rage. It didn’t take long for it to lash out at the village as it roared and destroyed everything in sight.

When it calmed down, its eyes focused on the children.

“I’m almost there… almost!”

It extended its hand toward the cage and made a swiping motion, which caused bright blobs of light to come out of the children’s bodies.

The Gargoyle opened its mouth and savoured the souls. The wounds on its body healed instantly and a layer of pure Holy light coated around its figure.

“A strong… and pure soul is all it takes. Then… then I will be chosen! The end of my suffering is nigh.”

“What’s wrong?”-Arthur

“It’s just itchy…”

Chris was intensely rubbing his calf while lying on the ground, inside one of the tents. Aerin and Evelyn each had their own tent, but Arthur and Chris stayed together.

“Alright…”

Seeing Chris curse and refuse to stop rubbing the same spot, Arthur shrugged and laid down.

“Say… do you want to go back to Earth?”

“For what? Revenge?”

“I guess. It pissess me off that Claudia is alive and enjoying our wealth and influence.”

“Traveling between planets is a feasible thing for extremely powerful beings. Then again, I’m not particularly interested in putting in so much effort to go back and exact vengeance. Also, there’s no telling if I might even be able to do it even after obtaining a lot of power.”

“I probably could.” Chris wryly smiled and waved his hand, “I have those teleportation spells, you know…”

Arthur shook his head and softly smiled, “Forget about it, Chris. I don’t want that. We were lucky to meet again in another world. I’m happy.”

Chris let out a laugh as he looked at his friend, “You’re right. I can’t say I dislike this kind of lifestyle, different as it is from our previous one. I just hope it doesn’t end the same way, that’s all.”

“I’ll make sure it won’t. When the time comes, I’ll make sure we have a beautiful and worthwhile end. No regrets or things left undone.”

“Okaay, cheesy guy!”

“You didn’t have to ruin it like this.”-Arthur

“I couldn’t help myself. I’ve gotten used to seeing you act and talk pessimistically so when I see you behave so differently, I cringe.”

“Just go sleep. You’re half-drunk already.”

Christopher flashed a smile before closing his eyes and soon falling asleep.

However, neither them nor their two companions were able to enjoy a good and peaceful night’s rest.

The galloping of a horse along with anxious shouts soon woke up everyone in the village.

Khan and Barry, one of Jader’s comrades and protectors of this village, urgently told everyone to head inside the underground mines.

“Don’t panic. We might not be targeted so this is a precaution.”

The villagers grouped up and headed toward a small entrance that led deep inside the cave.

“You two, kind guests, please follow along. We’ll be just behind you and guard the entrance.”

Chris, who had a small headache to due excessive drinking, looked around and was about to follow the villagers only for Arthur to grab his arm and stop him.

“Stay here.”

Meanwhile, Evelyn approached Khan and inquired about the situation.

“The Armis Village had been attacked.”

“Please don’t worry. You are our guests so we will protect you no matter what.”

Evelyn frowned and spoke for a second time,

“I just want to know what happened.”

Seeing her cold eyes and the blades sheathed on her waist, Khan hesitantly explained,

“The children are missing and…”

He lowered his voice before adding, “The rest were all killed.”

“The children are missing?”-Arthur

Arthur, who heard him from a distance, quickly approached him.

“That’s what you said, right?”

“Y-yes.”-Khan

“Are you sure it was only the children?”

“Absolutely. We have dealt with the Armis Village for years and our people and theirs know each other pretty well.”

Arthur, whose foot was unknowingly tapping the ground, thought for a moment before turning toward Chris and Aerin.

“I’m going to go check what happened.”

“Master.”

“You cannot keep up with me. You’ll stay here too.”

She wanted to object, but he had a sombre and rarely seen expression, which made her bow her head,

“As you wish, Master.”

“Which way is the Armis Village? Is it far?”

Khan, who didn’t understand what was going on, stood there in confusion.

“Kind sir… it’s dangerous out ther-”

“Please tell me the direction.” Said Arthur again, his voice more commanding.

“A bit to the North, and when you see a series of rocky hills, you go East.”

The Parasite nodded his head and, by the next second, he shot forward and left the cave in the blink of an eye.

‘The full moon… there’s no doubt about it. It's that gargoyle.'

Once outside, Arthur saw the full moon hanging in the darkened canopy, but it wasn’t as bright as earlier as the night was soon about to end.

Without any hesitation, Arthur took out the Wyvern’s corpse and possessed it. The frighteningly big and scaled Empyrean Wyvern rose the sky and shot toward the North with unimaginable speed.