On the roof of the tower that symbolized the headquarters of the MoonStar sect, Arthur stood there, gazing at the large building in his view, newly built pagodas, disciples that are sparring with each other, elders lecturing the juniors and so on… It was a peaceful atmosphere one where most of these people, who were ignorant about what's happening or what's about to come, are able to enjoy their lives without feeling anxious, worried.

To say injustice doesn't exist in his sect would be a lie, but at least it's not as extreme as the on the outside, where the strong take everything from the weak, uses their lives like disposable toys.

"It's amazing to see how fast the sect prospered, don't you think?"

As he was lost in thoughts, a feminine voice was heard from behind him. Arthur glanced at the newly arrived figure who was none other than the temporary sect master, Anastassia.

"I must say, you did a great job. None would have been to perform better than you did."

Anastassia joined him on the roof, standing beside him and gazing at the sect territory.

"It wasn't only me, many people contributed. Although this position is appealing, I'm more eager to see you come back with Lucy and take the reigns, after all, it is quite tiring for most of the times."

"Come back, huh…"

Anastassia turned her head to look at his dazing expression, she frowned and said

"Hmpf! The person I know wouldn't be so pessimistic and lose all hopes before even fighting. I remember when I first met you, you were so arrogant, thinking you're a big deal… and indeed, you had the strength to back it up but that attitude of yours irritated me a lot. I wonder, where did that person go?"

Arthur stared back at her, he opened his mouth to talk but hesitated for a few seconds before speaking:

"It's just that… lots of things happened, I met and fought many people, strong ones beyond comprehension yet I managed to defeat them and remain alive. This time, however, I'm not feeling that usual confidence, that certainty of winning or coming back alive."

"You have died once, so why fear death this time?"

Arthur was momentarily startled, with his eyes wide open he stared at the woman in front of him, the surprise only lasted for a short time before he returned to his usual calmness.

"So you know…"

"Un! Lucy told me. She didn't warn me not to tell you, nonetheless, I refrained from doing so anyway."

Arthur didn't care much if Anastassia knew what happened to him, he already considered her a close friend, moreover, he trusted Lucy and if she wanted to tell Anastassia, he wouldn't have stopped her from doing so.

"I do not fear death, I fear leaving a widow and a child without a father when I could have avoided such outcome."

Anastassia patted him on his back and added:

"Just like every time, I trust that you'll come back. I can see it, this isn't your end, the story of Arthur and Lucy cannot end here, how can it? When you still haven't met her yet, am I right?"

Arthur let out a long sigh then took out the marriage ring he got from Lucy. He caressed the ring for some time before he passed it to Anastassia, who was confused by his actions.

"Since you're so sure I'll come back then I want you to keep this for me… just in case."

She carefully held the ring and nodded back to him, not questioning his actions. Arthur left without giving any unnecessary goodbyes or pointless words.

Only Anastassia was left standing on the roof of the tower, she stared at the sky with her hand tightly clutching the ring

'Make sure to come back, we'll all be waiting!'

Arthur left for the Human Continent, less than two months remained before the Divine Beasts' arrival and he needs to be in the perfect condition.

There is room for improvement, he could try to hone his skills management and if he's lucky, he may be able to break through to the God Realm, officially becoming a Parasite God.

Furthermore, he still had two additional skill points which can be invested in any skill of his choice, techniques are also an option. The best choice was to upgrade an already maxed skill, like his Sword Mastery, the ancient flames, Dark Magic.

He could also try upgrading one of his enigma abilities, but they weren't absurdly powerful so maybe the results will not be what he's hoping for.

Arthur chose a remote cave in a mountain range that spanned from the West of the continent all the way to the South. He found a large cave so he cut used some miscellaneous skills to make it more habitable and much decent looking.

He entered the ARK and entered the Recovery Mode, where he can test any of his skills while recovering the lost Energy or Mana faster than outside.

He waved his hands and unleashed a powerful [Heavenly Arrow] made of pure Dark Magic, the arrow flew for some distance and crashed into the white ground, causing white rubbles and boulders to fly in all directions.

The damage that has been done disappeared in a split second as it was instantaneously repaired by whatever was controlling this space.

Arthur repeated this a few time while changing the arrow was conjured from. The one which is the deadliest is without a doubt was the Void Arrow, however, the fastest arrow was the one made by Natural Lightning. The one made from Dark Magic is weaker the weakest but like the Void Arrow, if it hits the target, then it'll kill him without a doubt.

Maybe not immediately, but the Dark Magic will invade the target's body and finish him slowly, consuming his Dantian and eating away his life.

As for a Heavenly Arrow made from ancient flames, it was doable but it takes much more times, it caused a mind-numbing explosion that shattered a large part of the area it hit, it also let remains of dark red flames that burned the ground and scorched everything in its way.

The other choice Arthur had was to upgrade the skill named [Breath of the Dead], it is the mysterious grey fog that contained a dense amount of Death Energy. It did little to nothing physical damage but it ate away the target's vitality and lifespan, this skill hurt Rozak, the Sovereign, badly and pushed him to become much more serious, unfortunately, by that time, Arthur had started preparing Rizaki, which more or less concluded the fight.

Speaking of which, the last option was [Rizaki] and [Thousand Waves], the latter is rather unlikely to be upgraded because it required a blade, and as it is right now, Arthur cannot fully unleash its potential, much less if it's upgraded.

There is even a chance that he won't be able to use it after it's upgraded as the cost would too high.

Rizaki is also the same, the problem was that it could harm the user, Arthur had been lucky that he used Dark Magic last time, if he used Ancient flames then he would have died.

The actual explosion is what will kill him, the sea of flames that'll flow won't hurt him since he has fire immunity.

He always uses Rizaki with an attribute that he has total immunity against else it'll most likely kill him, even if he doesn't die, he'll be at death's door, in a crippled state.

Arthur stared at the endless space, pondering what he should do. After an unknown amount of time passed, he retrieved a luxurious wooden box decorated with beautiful red runes. He took out the object that was laying outside and took a deep breath, ready to test out its potential…