Arthur didn't go back to the inn to meet up with his two companions, instead, he headed toward the royal castle, where the current ruler of the kingdom current is.

He never thought things will become problematic this quickly, nonetheless, debts must be paid back in full and what he's about to embark on is not only dangerous but reckless too.

He didn't know how such a thing is possible but he's not going to sit around and try to decipher the past. He had one goal for now and that's to eliminate the target.

Fortunately, with the disappearance of the system, the oath was no more so he's able to use weapons, which will greatly facilitate the mission.

As one would expect, the castle was heavily guarded but the soldiers weren't that strong so it wasn't hard to get rid of them. He chose the time when the sun was going down and the soldiers replacing their comrades to sneak inside.

However, he still was discovered after merely five minutes, causing a bloody fight to occur. There were three causalities, which were carefully hidden behind some bushes.

The shadow of the night was covering the horizon and the black fog emitting from Arthur went unnoticed. His katana was slowly but surely cracking, clear signs of destruction. It simply wasn't able to handle the bits of Dark Magic around Arthur.

The castle was bigger than one might expect and even with his comparatively high stats, Arthur wasn't able to reach the throne room quickly due to the absence of his stealth and teleportation skills.

Sure, it was a hassle but his raging emotions left him with only a bit of rationality, which fully recovered by the time he sneaked deep into the castle.

By this time, he killed sixteen soldiers, ten of them died by a sneak-attack. Unfortunately, he wasn't that careful in the last fight and the guard managed to alert the others, throwing the whole castle into absolute chaos.

A loud ringing sound reverberated across the whole area, causing many patrolling soldiers to group near the main areas of the castle.

The good thing is that all soldiers were melee-fighters, there was no diversity, though, the deeper he went, the stronger they became. The captains are as strong as A-ranked adventurers.

A-ranks posed no threat to Arthur but their numbers were weighing him down and limiting his advancement. They have yet to know the identity or an exact number of the invaders so they didn't focus much on guarding the throne room.

Arthur didn't know where the Queen was but she's definitely in the throne room or her private room.

As he gazed at the thirty or so soldiers guarding the entrance of the throne room, Arthur took a deep breath and was about to show himself only to hear a cracking sound.

The katana he bought a few days ago couldn't handle the pressure anymore and crumbled into dust. He helplessly looked at the dispersing dusk before noticing a black layer covering the hand that was holding the katana.

'Dark Magic?'

It was then that he remembered Zodiak's words.

'Dark Magic is but the manifestation of intense emotions into energy. As such, it can be used to attack or defend, it isn't reliant on skills, a system, or anything like that, it feeds on emotions and nothing else. If it's integrated into your body, the conversion will happen automatically, all you have to do is feel extreme anger, sadness, rage, etc…'

Suddenly, the aura around Arthur drastically changed, affecting the bushes and alerting the wary soldiers. Just as three of them approached the hidden Arthur, several black spears appeared out of nowhere and penetrated the defenseless victims.

Before all the others could react, countless black spears descended from above, piercing their armors and impaling them on the ground. More than half died while the rest groaned painfully, unable to get up and protect the entrance.

Arthur slowly advanced toward the closed door without as much as glancing at them. He was holding a strange blade covered in black flames, it isn't as strong as Makaze but it's still a weapon conjured from Dark Magic.

Although he regained control of Dark Magic, not only it isn't permanent, but he can't use the powerful skills. He can just execute normal attacks but it should be enough to deal with everyone in this castle.

…

The majestic throne room was eerie and devoid of souls, only a lonely dark figure was standing at its center. Although he felt no presence, Arthur's instincts warned him of the imminent danger.

He felt a strange yet familiar feeling, something he hadn't felt for a long, long time. As he was pondering what to do, several shadows appeared around him, four, to be precise.

The four were humans on the outside but the moment Arthur laid eyes on them, he became speechless. An elegant and voluptuous figure slowly descended from the stairs before him.

"With whom do I have the pleasure of speaking with?"

Her steps halted for a split second before chuckling and saying

"You're one of our kin too… but you seem oddly familiar."

While glaring at her, Arthur removed the dark cloth covering his face, causing a shocked expression to appear on the woman's face. She only remained as so for a few seconds before she burst out in laughter

"And here I was wondering who's brave enough to barge into my castle brazenly like this."

She paused for a second before adding:

"Never did I think I would meet you so soon… and as a parasite too. No wonder you were so strong back then."

This woman, the Queen of the kingdom, is none other than Claudia, his ex-wife, who's supposed to have died on Earth. This is why Arthur was so shaken when he saw that painting.

He was sure it was no mere coincidence, after all, it couldn't be. Her words confirmed his suspicions and made him sure that she was the same one he knew. Though, how did she end up here, moreover, she, and the four surrounding him were all parasites.

The feeling he was getting from them was familiar, they were his kin, most definitely!

"Now that we've exchanged pleasantries, I'm curious to know why you're here."

She crossed her arms and said

"What happened between us is in the past. Each went their way so why dwell on something you want to forget?"

She grinned and added:

"You've extracted your revenge, killed me and my son, isn't that enough? In fact, I should be the one angry right now yet I'm not. I want us to part ways on good terms."

Hearing this, Arthur clicked his tongue and retorted

"I'm supposed to believe that?"

He glanced at the four parasites around him before saying;

"I know how you operate and letting go is never something you do."

She shrugged her shoulders and stated:

"Well… things change."

She examined him from head to toe while talking again

"I've never heard them mention you so they must not know that you're a parasite… interesting. How about joining hands with me?"

In response, Arthur's figure disappeared, lunging directly at her with a flaming blade ready to decapitate her head.

Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough to kill her before the four others could react. Two of them suddenly transformed into two tall and muscular cyclops which blocked Arthur's way.

The other two stood in front of Claudia, protecting her from all danger.

The black magic sword slashed down at the big cyclops, causing it to stagger a few steps and hold its chest. Black Magic quickly invaded its body and caused it to fall on one knee while groaning.

The other cyclops swung its club, causing the air to whistle and the ground to shake. Arthur was no god of speed anymore, his movements become limited and to handle two SS-ranked monsters such as cyclops is no easy deal even with the help of Dark Magic.

A burst of Dark Magic was unleashed from his free hand, pushing him to the left, barely dodging the club, however, the cyclops followed its swing with a kick, which sent Arthur flying dozens of meters.

"Why are you clinging onto old grudges? Everything is in the past."

Although she was saying that, Claudia's eyes failed to hide the joy she was feeling when looking at the injured Arthur. She seemed to find it exhilarating that he's getting beaten up by her subordinates.

Unlike Arthur, who's a parasite, these parasites are much weaker and can only transform into the first monster they possessed. As for their humanoid form, it's merely a low-level skill that's able to fool mortals.