"My grumpy student, what's wrong?"

The Joker, leisurely playing with his cards, glanced at the absent-minded Katrina, who paid him no heed ever since he abruptly appeared out of nowhere.

"Are you perhaps thinking about Arthur?"

Hearing his name, the woman instinctively looked at him and gazed at him with a surprised expression, wondering how he knows about Lucy's husband.

"How do you know him?"

In response to her expected question, the man burst out in laughter while patting her back, causing her to groan and glare at him.

"How can I not know him?"

He smirked at her and added:

"What troubles your mind?"

After pondering for a moment, she replied:

"I think he didn't die."

As if she stated the obvious, the Joker confirmed

"Of course he hasn't."

This was like dropping a bucket of cold water on Katrina, whose eyes grew wide. The Trickster tilted his head and said:

"Did you really think you could kill him that easily? Parasites are a resilient race, one has to kill them multiple times to get rid of them. What you did was only make matters worse… why must you interfere between a lovely couple and ruin everything?"

The woman snorted and retorted:

"I'm not going to let my daughter marry a parasite. What would everybody think? For the White Specter Clan to welcome and protect a parasite… everyone will turn against us in no time."

"First, it's a parasite with a human soul. Originally, he was a human and circumstances led him to become like that. Second, why does it matter what others think? WHY does it matter what you think? It's not your life to live."

"As her mother, I get to decide. She's still young and has experienced love only recently. In no time, she'll forget about him and continue on."

He shrugged his shoulders and said:

"Whatever… you've always been a stubborn person who refuses to admit her mistakes. Just don't come complaining to me when death comes knocking on your doors."

As if she heard a joke, Katrina chuckled while looking at his serious expression:

"Death? You think just because he survived, he can come here and cause trouble whenever he pleases?"

The Joker ignored her and stood up, leaving the residence after a few last words:

"I've done my job and warned you. It's all up to you now… change your mind before the worst happens."

…

In the same residence, The Joker knocked three times on a door and patiently waited.

"Come in."

He didn't dare barge in like usual for he holds a deep respect for whoever is inside. He entered the room and slightly bowed toward the silver-haired woman before smiling and saying

"It has been a while, Miss Lucy."

He sat opposite her while gazing at her expressionless face.

"I'm sure it has been hard for you but I've come bearing good news."

What he said seemed to have grabbed her interest, she lifted her head and stared back at him, waiting for him to continue.

"It won't be long before Arthur comes."

His empty card was suddenly holding a card, which was put upside down on the table, he covered it with his hand before slowly sliding it away, revealing a rather astonishing picture…

***

"We need one of them alive."

After swinging his sword for many hours, Leiu said that out of the blue. The two others, who were busy eating, raised their heads and stared at the deadpan youth, who was sweating from head to toe.

"The parasites, we need to capture one of them. Any ideas?"

Arthur remained silent but the Joker grinned and replied

"I happen to be good at acting, leave it to me!"

"What do you plan to do?"-Arthur

The lunatic laughed but didn't reply immediately, he played with his cards and only after a few minutes did he voice out his thoughts.

Although the plan was crazy and heavily reliant on luck, neither Arthur nor Leiu objected since the Joker seemed so confident.

While Joker initiated his plan, both Arthur and Leiu were going to infiltrate the castle again and sneak into the Royal Library.

They're just going in and out, swiftly and soundlessly, without causing any ruckus or killing anyone.

Fortunately, both Arthur and Leiu are able to demonstrate some of their powers, which are beneficial in a dark environment. So, they don't have to worry about being discovered.

…

Five days after Arthur and co escaped from the castle, the Queen publicly recounted what happened while altering the entirety of the truth, of course. The three were labeled as demons and heretics and must be apprehended sooner than later.

Half of the soldiers were dispatched to search every corner of the city, breaking into private residences and even destroying shops, causing a negative response from the enraged public which claimed that the soldiers have gone too far.

On the sixth day, a shocking piece of news traveled all across the capital; A man named 'The Joker' was caught and was transported to the deepest dungeon situated under the castle.

He's being heavily guarded and wasn't immediately executed as the Queen wanted to lure the two others.

…

In a cramped and cold cell, the Joker was chained to the wall, unable to lift a finger. He appeared injured as there were blood stains on the ground, however, he was currently laughing, unperturbed and nonchalant about his current dire situation.

"Come on, can't you hit harder?"

The one who was 'questioning' him was the cloaked female parasite. Right behind her was Claudia, who was coldly glaring at the Joker, barely holding herself from shocking him to death. Although he appeared weak for the moment, he's by no means a pushover.

They thoroughly investigated him and saw his stats on the Adventurer's card. He's powerful enough to be an SS-Adventurer, if not stronger.

Irritated by his smirk and behavior, the cloaked parasite violently kicked his abdomen to which he coughed a few times but the taunting smile never left his face.

"You call this torture? Bitch pleaaaaaaaaaaase hahahahahahaha"

To begin with, the female parasite was suspicious as this individual was so easily captured. A few patrolling soldiers caught him outside of the city and the surprising thing is that he offered no resistance.

"Cut his hand or something!"

Claudia angrily shouted at the female parasite, who ignored her and waved her hand, signaling for the Queen to go away. Although unwilling, Claudia still had to obey this parasite, who was her superior.

After one last glare at the Joker, who winked at her, she harrumphed and exited the dungeon.

"Why did you let yourself get caught?"

He tilted his head and retorted

"I didn't… honest to god! They ganged up on me and captured him after a long and exhausting fight."

Hearing his lame excuse, she clicked her tongue and added:

"Well, it doesn't matter now. You can't escape from here and you'll be our tool to lure the other two."

"And what makes you think they'll come to save me? That's quite the speculation you have."

Before she could talk back, he wriggled his body, causing the chains to crackle.

"I never said I can't escape on my own… it's just that I'm liking this cell so much I find it hard to leave. After all, who would want to leave when such an attractive woman is accompanying them all day long."

He released quite the obscene moans which only made the parasite angrier. She kicked him a few more times before retrieving a weird look scissor…

"My my that's a dangerous thing! Please be gentle!"

He spread his legs and signaled for her to begin, clearly excited about what's to come…

***

The Royal Library is situated at the right-wing of the castle, it is home for countless ancient records and is heavily guarded day and night.

With the addition of eight soldiers guarding the entrance, there was one Royal Knight protecting the interior. Royal Knights, despite the majestic name, are basically mutants, humans that were magically enhanced using Mana and other obscure methods.

They always wear a thick armor so their disgusting appearance was never seen by the public, however, the horrors under the helmets are just mindless puppets that are used as cannon fodder by the parasites.

Such monstrosity was silently guarding the big library only for it to suddenly flinch. Before it could react, some form of Darkness covered the ground underneath its feet and slowly but surely, it started pulling its body, just like moving sand.

When half of its body was swallowed, a dark figure appeared before it and said

"Stay still and don't move."

The authoritative voice caused the Royal Knight to stop struggling and obey the youth's commands. Just like the soldiers outside, this mutant was subjected to Leiu's special ability, which can make anyone with a weak will obey him.

Mind you, even Arthur was forced to follow Leiu's voice to the letter. People who lost themselves to their emotions are more likely to suffer from this ability.

It would need a rational and strong-willed person to resist this ability, which wasn't his own but was obtained by killing a very strong entity.

With no one to threaten them, the two started browsing the library, searching for any book or document that mentions the past or the calamity that occurred 3,000 years ago.