Once the Joker's magic was cast, another kind of pressure dominated the area and overwhelmed all the heat incoming from the large fire lotus.

It was but a few meters in length but it was made from a crystalline-like material that made it look extremely eye-catching. The arrow looked more like a piece of art than an attack that was meant to resist the humongous flaming lotus.

When the card vanished from the Joker's hands, the arrow flew at the incoming lotus and clashed with it. There's wasn't a loud explosive sound nor massive destructions. The diamond that the arrow was made of, spread to the lotus and got rid of all the flames and hit in just three seconds. All that was left was a big and beautiful crystalline lotus that shattered into million pieces when the sharp tip of the arrow softly hit its side.

Although didn't look that threatening, its effects were more monstrous than one might think. Even Arthur, who was floating some distance away, was affected by it and had half of his legs turned into diamond. Neither his strong physique nor his black flames were able to get rid of the diamond.

The enraged Arthur wasn't in his right mind and wasn't able to find an efficient solution to getting rid of the diamond so he kept furiously hitting it with all his might but to no avail, not even a crack appeared on those clear and sky-blue diamonds covering his legs.

******************

Back on the Earth, the struggle against the Dark Blade worsened as Makaze was getting more and more restless and violent. Even Lucy started suffering from the blade's black flames and savage aura that was caused by Arthur's dark fog.

Taliya wasn't able to resist the growing pressure since she was still a Mortal. The head-maid fainted and was about to get injured if not for Randuin's intervention who wrapped his tail around her body and flew out of the area.

The situation was getting worse as Astrith's body started shaking and turning illusory. Lucy's face became paler every passing second and blood leaked out of her mouth.

The whole area was turned jet black, the dirt, trees, rivers, all turned dark but strangely didn't die but showed signs of an accelerated mutation. Even the insects and nearby animals were writhing in pain and undergoing some kind of a mysterious evolution that strengthened them but made them more savage.

A minute or so passed before Makaze suddenly flashed with a bright golden light which caused both Astrith and Lucy to be sent flying a few hundred meters away. Just as it was about to enter a strange black Spatial tunnel, an old man appeared out of thin air and pressed down the broken blade into the ground thus creating a deep crater and causing the angry blade to issue an enraged growl as it shook violently, almost shaking off the aged hand off it.

"My my, to think I couldn't even notice you although you're his blade."

A short figure with a bent back appeared some distance away from Makaze. He gazed at the broken dark blade with an astonished expression. One of his hands were lifted and pinching the air to subdue the blade.

"....Mmmh it's really strange... I've lived for a long time but I never heard of you. I saw all of the 9 Divine Swords and I even destroyed three of the nine Cursed swords."

As he pondered about the origins of Makaze, Snory glanced to his side only see a bloodied Lucy. Blood covered her clothes but her body was in a perfect condition as her Vitality was beyond the limits of even Gods and a simple injury like this couldn't defeat her.

Moreover, all she did was stay on the defensive and try to hold down Makaze. Her goal was not to destroy it but to simply block it from transferring back to Arthur.

"Hehehe Miss Lucy, I have been delayed in my way here, please excuse me."

Lucy merely nodded without saying any word. Her whole attention was on Makaze. Arthur made it clear to not let it reach him as it not only symbolized his partner in battle and a huge boost to his strength, it also absorbed all the previous darkness. So if the two were to fuse, Astria would we turned upside down and there's no telling who'll survive.

Unlike her slightly nervous expression, Snory was perfectly calm as he was easily holding down the dark blade without that big of an effort. Unfortunately, that didn't last long as the blade finally stopped shaking violently for a decent amount of time which led Sloth and Lucy to think that it's over at last.

However, more often than not, the reality was cruel and rejoicing early is never a good thing. Hundreds of not thousands of lights came flying from all direction. Each light was actually a sword that was strengthened a few times and was emitting an incomparable pressure. Very soon, the sky turned dark from all the swords that were flying above them.

They were of all kinds and types and were linked to each other as it facilitates control over them and makes them more powerful.

Snory was slightly impressed before shaking his head with disappointment while saying

"Merely strengthened grass...."

The show wasn't over as Makaze, which was supposed to be held down by Sloth, suddenly vanished and appeared in the middle of the flying cluster of swords.

All the swords were pointed at Snory, already considering him as an obstacle whereas Makaze unleashed a mind-numbing amount of black flames that covered the heaven and Earth.

Despite the calmness of Sloth, Lucy retrieved an exquisite looking silver revolver and loaded it with a purple bullet. If worse comes to worst, she'll have to forcefully stop Makaze even if it means injuring its soul.

*************************

Due to the warning of the strange woman, the Water Empress didn't dare to look at the statues anymore. She knew that the woman's previous statement wasn't a joke and these statues are really dangerous. They didn't emit any pressure but once someone stared at them, it's as these pieces of art become alive and are ready to devour anyone alive.

The two women walked for ten or so minutes before they reached a grandiose hall with jet black pillars and a strange altar in its center.

Although the hall was quite eye-catching as it had several large statues that were visibly different from the others at the very end of this place, there was a ten-meter long painting that covered the whole wall.

The Empress didn't dare stare for too long and merely did a quick glance before focusing on a simple wooden table where a woman sat.

This woman had long and silky black hair and skin as white as a sheet of paper. She looked like more like a zombie than a normal Human.

Very soon, only the Empress and the dark-haired woman remained in the hall. As for the other woman, she quickly excused herself after a short bow.

The dark-haired woman, who should be the current ruler of the Death Region, gestured for the Empress to sit on one of the empty chairs.

No pleasantries were exchanged and no words were spoken. The Empress did as told and sat opposite of the Region ruler. Very soon, the first to break this silence was none but the dark-haired woman, who studied the Empress with her eyes then said

"As far as I know, each ruler of a region is considered an Emperor or Empress and is given a title. I wonder what is yours?"

The response came merely a few seconds later.

"I apologize for the late introduction. I am the current ruler of the Water Region, the 13th Water Empress. My title is 'The Governor of the Ocean'."

The dark-haired woman gazed at the Empress with an expressionless face for a long time before letting out a sigh and adding:

"Then do you know the title of the first ruler?"

The Empress shook her head and didn't say anything. The purpose of her visit wasn't to learn more about the first ruler of Water Region but to learn the identities of her ancestors and what exactly happened before the Hour of Creation.

"The first Water Empress was named Shiva, the Queen of Ice. Not only was she from before the Hour of Creation and even the Great War, she was also my dear sister."

It was as if a bomb had dropped on the water Empress as she heard those words. She stared at the Region Ruler with a wide open mouth and eyes full of astonishment...