A few days passed with the big incident that occurred in Astria. All the inhabitants were terrified and only calmed down after sensing danger no more. Fortunately, the fight was in a desolate place else there would have been many casualties.

Both parties that caused so much destruction were currently inside the High Tower of the MoonStar sect. The Joker was boringly playing with his cards with his chin resting on one hand and Arthur was still unconscious after the dangerous blow he received from his enemy.

The good thing is that his condition stabilized and no more dark fog was emitting from his body. His injuries fully healed and all he needed was to sleep so that his recovers some rationality.

Accompanying him was none other than Lucy, who didn't call Saly as to not make her worried. She never left his side during the last couple of days and carefully inspected his body every few hours.

Quite surprisingly, Lucy noticed that Arthur's condition was directly linked to the dark blade, who was in a corner. The illusory sheath of the blade was slowly yet surely transforming from a spiritual one to a fully materialistic object.

The process was slow but it seemed that the completion of the sheath had to do with Arthur's mental state, which was showing healing.

His consciousness was still a vast starry sky but there were no signs of those malevolent chains or the Earth Spirit which was trapped inside.

Instead, there was an additional thing next to the Orb and the Ark. It was a really strange circle composed of three colors, each emitting some kind of pure energy and the three were coexisting and even complimenting each other.

This was the Tri-Spirit that was created due to the outburst of Arthur's darkness and the Dark-Anguish Technique which accelerated the process by a few hundred times.

The Earth Spirit was wise enough to grasp this opportunity to fuse with the Death Energy and the Dark Mana. He could have escaped but such a golden opportunity made it more powerful despite being linked to Arthur for an eternity.

As Lucy was softly caressing her husband's face, the door of the room was abruptly opened and a tall silhouette walked inside.

With a funny looking purple clothes and star-shaped tattoos under his eye, the Joker gazed around until his eye landed on Makaze.

Ignoring the displeased Lucy, who was coldly glaring at him, he stopped in front of Makaze and squatted down while carefully inspecting the broken blade, which was mostly hidden by the forming sheath.

"A story of love and betrayal, joy and tragedy, life and death. An evil man, who dearly loved a woman, sacrificed every bit of his power to create nine Divine swords to protect her and nine Cursed swords to destroy her enemies. The woman didn't love him back and even insulted him but the man wasn't hurt and merely disappeared. Only a few people know where he went.... the dark and ancient place that has nothing but constant hurricanes and complete darkness. He died there, alone and the strong energy in that place coupled with his special heart had fused together and transformed into a sword."

Lucy listened to him silently, she didn't know why he was telling her this story but it was apparent that it's Makaze's origins. However, the reason he's telling her something only a handful of people knew shall remain unknown for now.

The Joker grasped the handle of Makaze but the second his hand touched it, black flames enveloped it and started devouring vitality. The man didn't seem to mind and after gazing at it for a few seconds, he let it go and turned to look at Lucy with a smirk

"From the look of your face, I don't seem you remember me that much?"

While it is true she saw him in her past, Lucy only knows that he's a dangerous entity and is known throughout the Universes.

"Did we meet in the past?"-Lucy

The Joker casually sat on a nearby chair then said

"We did indeed, you were but a small girl when I first saw you, Miss Eva."

As she heard this news, Lucy was momentarily startled before replying

"Eva? Is that my real name?"

"That is what your parents named you."

As such an opportunity appeared, Lucy wasn't going to waste it. Normally, she doesn't talk much in front of strangers but now, she set aside her usual silent attitude and added:

"Who are my real parents? Where are they?"

"Oh my! Are you that eager to meet them?"

Hearing this, Lucy scoffed and said with a mocking tone

"Meet them? I just want to show them what I managed to do without their help."

As he heard that, the Joker burst out in laughter and said excitedly

"Hahahaha now that's a good answer! I really want to be there when that happens. I don't know your circumstances but it seems your opinion and attitude about this matter is suitable for my taste."

After saying that, he took out the same card that he used against Arthur and then carefully inspected Lucy.

Twenty seconds of silence passed before the Joker started laughing even louder

"HAHAHAHA truly, truly a suitable pair you two are! Yin physique, a soul bind, and an unmatched talent! Life really never ceases to amaze me!"

Lucy, wanting to know the truth, insisted by asking him again

"So... are you going to tell me?"

He shrugged while responding

"I don't care either way so why not tell you but on two conditions."

Hearing nothing but silence as an answer, he continued

"First, you two are invited to my Red Spade Tower as competitors. Second, I want the chest of coins inside your partner's ring."

Confused, Lucy thought about what the Joker said for a few seconds before asking

"What chest exactly?"

With a grin plastered on his face, he happily answered

"The one that surely was next to that old man's corpse when he died. It's just a chest with a bunch of colorful coins in it."

She pondered about the condition for quite sometime before nodding thus showing him she's accepting both conditions. Although neither she nor Arthur knew what the coins do, they do not need it now and Arthur would do anything to allow her to know about her past.

As for participating in that competition, it's in the future so it's no problem.

"Alright, deal accepted! Then let me tell you who your family is...."