"You're here again, young man."

An old man glanced at the incoming figure while letting out a chuckle and motioning for the latter to sit beside him. This elderly had wrinkles all over his face, unusually pale skin and a bent back. His limbs were extremely thin, showcasing how old and perhaps malnourished he was. Moreover, the old man was blind and his eyes were jet black like a bottomless abyss though he rarely opens them for he knew that anyone who sees his eyes will cower in fear.

The 'young man' he was talking to was none other than Jackob, who captured Angelina a while ago. He was eerily silent and would come here every time he had a lot of things to think about. It could be described as a place of relaxation.

In response, Jackob merely glanced at the old man but said nothing. He sat next to the elderly and gazed at the bustling city, which was shining with all kinds of light despite the fall of the cloak of night.

"Facing another hurdle, are we? Ohohohoho"

The old man chuckled at the grumpy Jackob, who didn't seem too bothered by the former's remarks. The temporary leader of the MoonStar sect let out a sigh and said:

"In the end, what is the right thing to do?"

Though he wasn't staring at the blind old man, the question was most certainly meant for the person next to him.

After a short bout of silence, an answer, albeit complicated, was given;

"The right thing? There is no such thing. Our different opinions, past experiences, and standpoints are what separates from whom we call 'enemies'. Our perspectives are different so we blame each other and each one is thinking he's doing the 'right' thing. Right? Wrong? Those are words invented to justify their actions."

"…"-Jackob

Jackob kept his silence and pondered about the answer given by the old man. He felt conflicted on what to do in the future, how will things proceed? Who will live and who will die?

An unknown amount of time passed yet neither of the two opened their mouths. When the weather started getting a bit chilly, the old man shakily get up, threw one last glance at Jackob before saying

"For we who walk before may lead those who walk after."

************

It didn't take long for Angelina to be transported to the High Tower. She was still trapped inside the prison of bones but that didn't stop Taliya from trying to communicate with her.

In an underground and spacious room under the High Tower, Angelina was surrounded by several people. There was Robin, Sonia, Mary, Taliya, Jackob, and Gutcha, who was shrouded in darkness.

"Is she still not responsive?"

Robin asked Taliya, who repeatedly tried to talk to Angelina but the white specter kept her mouth shut for some reason.

Furthermore, Angelina was glaring at Jackob, clearly bearing a grudge against him. The man wasn't fazed and completely ignored her, appearing more interested in what to do with her instead of pointlessly trying to force answers out of her mouth.

"Let's let her recover, she'll talk when she's ready."-Taliya

"We cannot afford to wait, Arthur will reach the Divine Planet very soon."

Hearing this, Angelina suddenly raised her head and spoke

"W-what?"

"What do you mean 'What'? You guys abducted Lucy to Arthur went to get her back."-Mary

The female beastmen glared at Angelina and gave a quick explanation of the situation.

"He'll die."

"Yeah… I ain't sure about that."

This time, it was Gutcha who talked. He walked close to the prison of bones, crouched to meet the woman face to face then stretched his hands, which released a large amount of Dark Magic which wrapped itself around the victim's body.

After making sure her Dantian and Meridians were corrupted with his Dark Magic, Gutcha stood up and said to the silent Jackob

"From what I've heard, the Matriarch highly values her daughter. We can use her as a hostage to boost Arthur's chances of survival."

"What? How can you say that?"-Taliya

Gutcha gave the demon a chilling glare while retorting

"Woman, we're at war, so we'll use anything to assure our victory. Even if the enemy is a sage, he's still our enemy and should be killed or used accordingly. Sect Master didn't spare her life just because you begged."

Taliya, incensed, was about to talk back to the pigolo only for Jackob to interrupt her and say

"Fine, deliver her to Arthur as fast as possible."

"Right away, sect master."-Gutcha

The pigolo bowed to Jackob and waved his hand, causing the Dark Magic to completely envelop Angelina, who couldn't even move, much less resist. Within seconds, both Gutcha and the white specter vanished from that room.

Although Sonia agreed with Taliya and thought it was wrong to use Angelina as a hostage, she still kept her silence. As Gutcha said, this was war and they want Lucy to be saved so dawdling over the means to do that is only a waste of time.

…

Gutcha didn't waste any second, he appeared on Green-Leaf and immediately started heading toward the capital, planning to join Arthur's forces. Angelina, who planned to break free once she recuperated some of her energy, was left in a helpless situation as the Dark Magic sucked the life out of her, slowly turning her into a mortal.

She may be stronger than Gutcha if they fight on equal terms but it was never about fairness. No one forced her to appear on Astria, she was driven there out of curiosity and it clearly cost her much.

*******

Zutis Galaxy, Clock Planet.

This was a planet shrouded in darkness and devoid of any souls, it is a forbidden place many would willingly avoid. Somewhere on this planet, there was an enormous black castle, ominous and eerily quiet. This was 'X's planet and his 'headquarters'.

Only his trusted confidant, Belos, is allowed to enter this place and report to his master.

Currently, X was pacing around in his office, pondering about something while his servant was preparing things for his departure.

"Master, you were right, Arthur is indeed leading that undead army. However, his appearance is very different and he seems to be the Dark Magic user that appeared on Green Leaf a while ago."

X's steps came to a sudden halt, he turned his blurry face toward his servant and asked

"The Dark Magic user? Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. In addition, he seems to be in possession of Evil Wind."

Clearly a little bit angry, X banged his cane on the floor while clicking his tongue.

"Well, it matters not. If things get complicated, I will just snatch the orb and leave, there's no need for a fight. Though, I'm curious about his whereabouts for the last few years…"

Belos, who was half-kneeling, raised his head and added:

"We're still investigating his background. From the looks of it, he has a feud with the White Specter Clan hence his present actions. There is also news about the Matriarch, who visited the Thousand Buddha Sect yesterday."

As if he heard a joke, X burst out in laughter while saying

"Hahahahahaha does she really think those impotent old men will help her? Simply ludicrous!"