"Then what happened? Did he kill her?"

Lucy was literally on the edge of her seat as she listened to the Joker's story, not noticing the silhouette standing behind the transparent door of her room. Angelica came here to check on her sister only to hear shocking things.

Obviously, the Magician felt her presence but chose to remain silent and continue with his story. He smirked at the no-longer expressionless Lucy and thought

'So she can display such emotions… Hahaha it's like telling a bedtime story to a child.'

He raised one finger and said:

"First, let me explain the types of parasites."

Four cards appeared on in his hand, each with a picture of a minuscule life form.

"The most basic and weakest parasites are called Minor Parasites, they're basically cannon fodder and unlike Arthur, they can only possess one corpse and stick with it. Though they control it, if the host dies, they die along with it and they only one random skill from the host's arsenal."

He pointed at the card at the right which showed a picture of a small red parasite, which had a form very similar to a centipede.

"The second type are Calypso Parasites, they're called 'halfies', I believe there existed only three and one was killed by me and Leiu. They're born from a Titan and a parasite and their abilities are like Arthur's, more or less."

His finger shifted to the second card which showed a fish-like being.

"The third are the ones we fought, they can possess only one host but they get their abilities. However, they get a bonus and that's infinite evolution. In the right circumstances, they can endlessly evolve and become superior to the Calypso Parasites. They were just called Parasites and Claudia was one of them."

The Joker was about to hide the cards, clearly not going to introduce the fourth type.

"What about the fourth?"

In response, he chuckled and gave a vague answer:

"We'll get to that later."

He gulped another cup of tea and resumed:

"That day, Calv-City was no more and 1.2 million people were killed."

This revelation shocked the carefully listening Lucy, who didn't expect him to drop a bomb just like that. His leisurely expression was no more, it shifted to a melancholic one.

"I was never a hero or sage but I also cannot tolerate what the parasites have done to that many people."

*****

Claudia, who became a red dragon, was still enraged even after 'killing' Arthur. The dragon faced the speechless soldiers, who were either running away or watching it, and opened its mouth, ready to unleash its flames. From the looks of it, a massacre was about to begin.

The dragon's body grew in size and the savage aura emanating from it started affecting the mortals, weakening their soul and knocking them unconscious.

Everyone on a radius of five hundred meters of the dragon was incapacitated and the rest attempted to flee for their lives. Unfortunately, the flames were faster than them and in just a few seconds, a couple of hundred soldiers were burned alive, leaving nothing but black ash.

Before it was able to unleash its second attack, a shooting black star rose sprung from the bottomless chasm, crashing into the dragon.

A deafening and painful cry reverberated across the area, shaking what little remained of the castle. A man covered in black flames and wielding a vibrating dark blade crashed into the dragon and caused a hideous large wound to appear on the monster's back.

Claudia, who no longer was in control of her actions, turned to face the floating Arthur and spat large fireballs, which were easily split in two by Makaze.

Arthur sheathed Makaze, bent his back and with a speed faster than lightning, unleashed a furry of golden slashes that landed on the dragon's wings, severing them within seconds. Fountains of blood gushed from the dragon's new wounds yet the beast didn't seem too bothered by the pain and its body grew larger in size and another, bigger pair of wings instantaneously grew from its back.

*****

With Leiu under his arm, the Joker was almost out of the chasm, he could feel the violent tremors coming from above. The heat was also unbearable, causing parts of his costume to ignite.

As he was making his way upwards, he happened to catch a glimpse of a ginormous cubic object laying inside a crumbling cave. A heavily injured man was coughing blood as he dragged his body, trying to reach a remote control a few meters away from him.

When he saw that enormous object, which was very similar to the strange bomb found underground, The Joker thought to himself

'No fucking way…'

If that thing were to blow up, never mind him, the whole city would disappear. Just as he was about to make his way toward the man, large boulders fell from above, blocking his way and forcing him to continue jumping from one place to another.

If they were lucky, one of those boulders fell on that dying parasite but the Joker didn't want to bet on that. The best thing they could do is get the hell out of this place, sooner than later.

Some minutes later, The Joker and Leiu finally appeared on the surface only to witness a devastating fight between Arthur and a gigantic red dragon.

"Let me down."

Leiu shook off his body and supported himself with his sword as he struggled to get up. He raised his head and looked at the two clashing figures, one wielding his blade and the other controlling flames and turning the sky as red as blood.

"The city is about to blow up, I'll help him get rid of the dragon so we can leave."

The Joker was about to join the fight only for Leiu to stretch his hand and tightly hold his shoulder while shaking his head.

"It's not your fight, stay put."

"It's not the time for that! The explosion will happen at any time."

"If you don't want to die, feel free to leave. I'm going to wait until it's done."

Hearing this, the Joker flinched, gazed back at the pale youth:

"Hmpf!"

He snorted, sat on the scorched ground, crossed his arms and looked at the two fighting parties.

"If we end up in Hell, you better don't regret your choice."

The Nameless Knight sat next to the Joker and uttered those words, his eyes glued on the red dragon and the man covered in black flames.

"I'm fine with dying, what about you?"

In response, the youth shrugged his shoulders and said:

"Death before dishonor, that is my creed."

…

High up in the skies, the sky was split in two, one part was a sea of flames and the other was an encroaching and chilling Darkness that barred any form of light.

With Evil Wind in his hand, Arthur glared at the dragon, which suddenly flapped its wings and roared loudly as a large burning tattoo appeared on its chest. This was the mark of the Dark Blade, indicating that Claudia is officially one of Arthur's enemies and is to be killed soon, very soon.

Once someone is marked, it cannot be undone, were they even an entity stronger than real Gods, no one can get rid of the mark for it is caused by the Oath.

'For sworn good or evil, an oath may not be broken and it shall pursue oathkeeper and oathbreaker to the world's end. Devour thy enemies and banish them into oblivion! I call upon thee, Devourer of worlds!'

Arthur let go of the dark blade in his hand, which quickly vanished into nothingness.

...

Something even bigger than the red dragon appeared in the sky, it seemed very ancient, predating everything and everyone.

It was none other than the gate from earlier but much bigger. The closet shut archaic doors opened wide and a large dark blade came out of it. The blade was as swift as darkness and cold as ash as it flew towards its partner.

Makaze's current size didn't match Arthur's body but he still held the incredibly big blade, resulting in an endless supply of power surging to come from Evil Wind.

…

"Now that's a terrifying blade."

The Joker commented as he gazed at the huge blade, fascinated. As for Leiu, he glanced at Anduril, which was showing an unusual reaction as if, finally, it has met its match.

"I've heard a tale of a blade called 'Devourer of Worlds'… to think it actually existed *sigh*"

All of a sudden, Calv-city and everything around it was covered by an ominous darkness. This unusual darkness lasted for only three seconds before it was absorbed by the Dark Blade.

'First wave, Black as night, Calamity Descends!'

The dragon couldn't handle the pressure, much less defend against the huge dark blade, which sent a malevolent burst of Dark Magic which consumed it within seconds, leaving nothing but a fragile-looking Claudia covered in blood from head to toe.

Unfortunately for her, Arthur's wasn't done with her. Still present, the blade flew from Arthur's hand and used its sharp and pointy tip to hit her chest, devouring her just like any other sword.

Seeing this, Arthur felt a great sense of relief as if he just got rid of a heavy burden. The black flames covering him vanished and Makaze returned to its sheath. His figure fell from the sky, crashing dozens of meters away from his two companions.

With great difficulty, heavy and rapid breathing and veins bulging out of every part of his body, Arthur stood up and glanced around him only to spot two equally tired men coming towards him.