"Two months from now on, the Space Dragon's realm will open."

Arthur listened to the talkative Shu Ru while enjoying the view through the window.

"It's one of the few remaining adult dragons. Apparently, it's giving birth so its realm will be weakened thus allowing outsiders to enter."

He glanced at her excited face and retorted

"And why is that so exciting?"

Seeing such a lack of reaction, Shu Ru pouted and said

"The treasures that were amassed by the dragon will make anyone greedy."

Arthur scoffed and said

"Do you think it'll let you enter its lair and take its treasures?"

"Hmpf, lots of people will enter and it won't be able to resist them all even with its mighty power. Moreover, everyone's cultivation will be restricted."

"So it wrong to kill people but it's alright to barge in into a mother's home when she's giving birth?"

When she heard that, Shu Ru gave him a strange look and only spoke after a few seconds passed.

"You know… it's a dragon, it doesn't matter what happens to it."

"Why? Only human lives are precious?"

"N-n"

Before she reply, Shu Ru found herself outside of the room, clearly kicked out by Arthur.

'Despite being one of the strongest races, dragons are regarded as evil. Obviously, such rumors are false and it's impossible to change people opinion about them. Just like they consider devils malevolent beings. Light is Holy and Humans are righteous while darkness is evil and other races are monsters, it's always been like this. Their mentality is rotten. They may show respect to powerful races but humans will always feel superior.'

Claud's voice rang inside Arthur's ears, who gave no comment. The copy paused for a split second before asking

'Do you plan to go there?'

He heard an almost immediate reply from Arthur:

"Why should I? It's dangerous and the probability of being discovered is high."

Inside the ARK, Claud, who was sitting alone in this endless white space, let out a long sigh after hearing Arthur's answer. Absent-minded, he muttered

"Oh but you will… that's how the prophecy goes."

…

"So you're telling me you couldn't find him?"

Inside a gloomy room in a remote inn North-East of the city, there were four figures, three which were standing before a sitting old man.

The elder have a pale skin and wrinkles covered most of his face. A simple breeze may take his life or so it seemed. In fact, the old man was blind and looked so frail with his bent back and short height.

The one who talked just now was this old man, whose tone was strict and cold, frightening the three before him. The leader of this small group of three took one step forward and explained

"The death was peculiar. We couldn't even determine the cause."

The blind old man leaned on the chair and retorted

"So you're telling me that not only did you have to pay double the price of this mission because you failed to find the culprit in two days but you also had the nerve to come here and tell me about your incompetence?"

Unfortunately, the three couldn't explain themselves as they suddenly fell on the ground, lifeless, each with a clean stab that finished their lives.

Time slowly passed yet the old man ignored the rotting corpses near him. After what seemed to be an eternity, he slowly got up and said to himself

"I guess I'll have to personally act."

Just like a ghost, he disappeared from the room, taking with him the three bodies.

***

The job which was supposed to be easy turned to be troublesome. It's quite rare for the Black Rose organization to fail which why they had a policy which made them return double the promised price in case of failure.

Black Rose wasn't the strongest organization in the multiverse but definitely the most dangerous. They are a bunch of expert assassins and hiring them costs a large sum of money. It doesn't matter if it's a mortal or a God Monarch, as long as they have enough money, they can hire those killers.

They mainly kill targets but in certain cases, they find a hidden person or go to a dangerous place to retrieve a treasure. Because the price they demand is simply outrageous, very few people are willing to employ them.

Athard, Visto's father, is one of those people. Though he was a bit disappointed when he heard nothing from the assassins he hired, on the fourth day, an old man appeared.

"If I don't find the target in three days the price you paid will be paid back tenfold."

The identities of the top figures in the Black Rose organization are unknown, however, Athard became delighted as he certain the old man will definitely locate the murderer. Even though he was a God Monarch, he couldn't even measure the power of this frail and blind elder, which gave him confidence in the completion of the job.

***

Three days later, right outside of the sect's gate, there stood a blind old man. He was like a wooden log, motionless and silent. After a long while, his eyes suddenly opened, showing two white pupils that didn't grant him vision but still showed him more than enough.

He saw Visto talking without the guard and a cloaked figure. He saw the young master attacking then being flung back. The moment he was sent flying, the old man caught a glimpse of a chilling and ominous dark energy that invaded the young man's body.

Even some as experienced as him didn't know what that was but it wasn't easy to conclude the cause of the young man's death.

Arthur didn't retaliate and merely stood still, this made the old man wonder how Visto got infected by that poison and dark energy. Despite his special eyes, he wasn't able to see the Dark Barrier nor could it see the acting Tri-Spirit.

The old man gazed at Arthur for a few more minutes before he closed his eyes again and disappeared from that area.

*******

As Arthur was relaxing in his room, as usual, both his senses and his map alerted showed an unusual reaction. A red dot appeared at the edge of the map, however, the dot didn't move toward him.

He could feel a gaze directed at him, though it had some killing intent, it wasn't that threatening. Seeing this, Arthur frowned at first then closed the book in his hand while saying

"Since you're here, why not join me here?"

He seemed to be talking to himself as no one answered him. Only when Arthur turned his head and stared at the source of the gaze did the other party spoke

"Hahaha I don't want to impose."

Arthur, who was supposed to be smiling, suddenly had a change of expression. He stretched his hand toward the air and grabbed it. Using Space Magic, he grabbed the space around the 'guest', wanting to bring him to this room.

Unfortunately, his attempt was unsuccessful. He wasn't able to get hold of his target, which vanished and reappeared in another place.

"I'm not stupid enough to enter your room."

"Oh?"

Arthur was momentarily surprised before smirking and adding:

"So you can see it?"

The other voice remained silent before laughing and answering him

"Hahaha being blind has its perks."

Though blind, he could sense a dangerous energy lurking inside that room. It's like it became Arthur's lair, a foot inside would seal his fate. He was confident in his abilities but to walk into the trap of an enemy with unknown strength is plain stupid and suicidal.

Just as the old mans sensed, Arthur's room was drastically changed. Of course, it looked exactly the same but the amount of Death Energy inside would frighten anyone.

That's while excluding the traps he laid everywhere around him. Inside this room, Arthur was sure of his safety. He spent most of his last few days in leisure but the Tri-Spirit did a good job at protecting him.

Shu Ru could enter since she was harmless but any other person would have to think twice. Using its strong Earth Magic, the Earth Spirit made it hard for a God to even take a step inside. A Sovereign may be able to move but fighting is impossible.

Only a God Monarch will be able to slightly resist it but it'll still weaken him and make him spend an extra effort to get rid of it.