Although he managed to kill an Exalted God once, it is unlikely that Curtis will be able to do it a second time. After disposing of the Archcardinal, the Transcendent Knight shifted his attention to the woman fighting Saly.

Meanwhile, Arthur started rampage down below. He was like a raging beast, transforming into different creatures and wreaking havoc inside of enemy lines.

One second, he's a dragon spitting a sea of flames and the other he's a huge metal golem stomping on the specter and slaughtering his way through the countless opponents.

He was like a killing God, unstoppable and unbeatable. He was way stronger than the awakened specters or the Holy Knights so, for a while, he killed thousands of them until he was resisted by the Marshall's army. They were unafraid of the parasite as they brandished their bloody weapons and surrounded him, each one of them throwing powerful skills and tried to pin Arthur down.

********

Far away from the battlefield, Death caressed his beardless chin and muttered

"Is that the infamous Metamorphosis of Zaarae? It's my first time seeing it."

The Joker, who was also watching his brother's onslaught, nodded his head and said:

"It's not complete but it's indeed the Metamorphosis state. When a parasite can immediately take the form of a host he previously possessed, basically, literally becoming said host. It's one of the abilities that contributed to Zaarae's rise in power."

Death glanced at the Joker and asked:

"Though, I'm still curious about how your brother managed to get his hands on her powers. It happened before my ascension so I couldn't get a glimpse of it."

Hearing this, Leiu snorted and retorted:

"Hmpf! It's better than you didn't see a thing. Your babbling mouth causes too much trouble already. Also, some things are better left forever in the dark."

As if he remembered something, Death faced the Nameless Knight and asked:

"Speaking of the past, I'm curious about the feud between you and 'X'. Just what did he do to you to make you chase him all around the Multiverse?"

The old man ended up receiving a chilling glare from the pale-faced youth, who refused to answer and stretched his hand and grabbed Death by his neck.

The thin old man continuously coughed as he was being suffocated, however, a creepy grin was plastered on his face.

"What? You want to kill me? Go ahead and try."

Anastassia tried to interfere only to be stopped by the Joker, who grabbed her shoulder and shook his head.

"Better stay put, little bird."

Still smiling, Death glanced at the far away Arthur and added:

"I wonder what brother of yours will do if he has to choose between you and his dear wife… will he destroy that orb so that no one can kill you or will he use it to save himself and his wife?"

…

Unbeknownst to Leiu and co, Arthur, who was busy fighting, actually heard their conversation thanks to the boost in his sense provided by the rotating orb. Their conversation was cut short but its contents greatly shocked him and made stop moving for a few seconds, causing him to be bombarded by all kinds of deadly spells.

Unfortunately for his enemies, Arthur regained his senses soon after and transformed into a sharp which dived underground then shifted form again, becoming a large venomous plant which stretched its vines and bound numerous of his enemies. The vines pierced the armored soldiers and amputated their limbs, finishing more than third of them in one attack.

*****

Outside of the Divine Planet, the battle between 'X' and the middle-aged man didn't last for long as the former made use of his Time abilities to emerge victorious. Despite his blurred face, his mocking laugh showed how pleased as he stared at the half-kneeling man before him.

'X' was totally unscathed by the man was in a terrible state, his legs trembling and his skin wrinkled due to a long passage of time.

'X' wasn't interested in his enemy and was about to enter the Divine Planet at last only for his whole left arm to be amputated without his realization.

He only reacted to this sudden act after a few seconds. Lots of blood gushed out of his shoulder yet he didn't seem to be bothered. He lifted his face and focused on a large winged beast which seemed unaffected by the violent storms in the surroundings.

Next to the winged figure was a grey-haired man staring back at 'X'. Although he looked slightly different, 'X' was able to recognize the man with just a glance, this made him burst in loud laughter, unable to hold back his excitement.

"What a pleasant reunion!"-X

Arthur nodded his head and said:

"Indeed, what better place for two 'friends' to meet after a long time."

'X' inspected Arthur and immediately knew that he wasn't the same one leading the army. Not only did he not have the orb, but he was also much stronger and emanated a different aura.

"I'm quite in a hurry, you see, so… what brings you here? If it's not too urgent, I say we schedule our happy reunion for later."

Arthur crossed his arms, focused his gaze on 'X's blurry face and spoke:

"As crooked as your actions were, I cannot deny that your intervention was timely and helpful to me."

'X' clapped his hands and said back:

"So you know I meant you no harm! Then why do I sense a bit of hostility?"

"Quite simple, actually. I cannot let you have the orb, not now, not in the future."

'X' spread his head innocently and replied:

"I don't get you, Arthur. Our paths happened to cross but that doesn't mean we have to be enemies. You live your life and I mine, there's no need for needless and pointless fights."

As he listened to 'X', Arthur let out a sigh and asked:

"Then, just to confirm, let me ask you, what do you plan to do with the orb?"

"…"

All he got as a reply was total silence as 'X' stood there and gazed at Arthur.

Expecting not to hear an answer, Arthur added:

"You want to use the orb's power to kill the Nameless Knight, am I right?"

"Why do you care?"

"I just care."

As if he couldn't wait any longer, 'X' tried to bypass Arthur and directly enter the Divine Planet. He began slowly turning illusory and just when he about to disappear, Yamak flapped his silver wings and disturbed the Space, negating 'X' ability and pushing him out of the hidden dimension he was going to use.

"Do you really want to do this?"-X

His tone became a bit irritated and his aura started manifesting. The blood gushing out of his shoulder froze mid-air and his amputated arm slowly went back to its original place. Put simply, X rewound time, easily recovering from the injury caused by the dragon.

*******

Back on the battlefield, Arthur felt conflicted and didn't know what to do exactly. At this point in time, the orb was slowly merging with his soul, soon to become one with it. However, that doesn't mean it can't be taken away in the future. Someone well-versed in Souls can still separate the orb and use it for his own benefits, like 'X', for example.

From within the ground, he gazed at the spinning orb and thought for what seemed to be an eternity before he resolutely took his decision.

'Do it, Makaze!'

The dark blade heard its partner's call and immediately started acting. A black shadow sprung from the ground and released a loud roar, scaring off the nearby enemies and mentally dizzying them for a few seconds.

Evil Wind transformed into its real appearance, a lengthy blade fit for a giant.It was covered in black flames and its hilt had archaic runes engraved on it.

Once the Gale Devourer, the blade rose in the air and unleashed its flames in the sky, casting a dark shadow on this whole area and limiting everyone's vision. This abrupt and strange actions of the dark blade alerted everyone, including Leiu and the Joker.

The man wearing a weird white costume was shocked by Makaze's actions. He advanced one stop and was about to stop the ominous blade only for his brother to stop him.

"Leiu, why are you being like this?!"

"You cannot interfere."

The youth's tone was serious as he held back Wolfram and shook his head. In response, the Joker clenched his fists and retorted

"Don't you fucking see what that blade is doing? It's going to shatter the orb!"

"It is his decision, you should respect it." Leiu didn't mind the Joker's outburst. He kept a calm demeanor while locking gazes with the frustrated trickster.

"What do you mean, respect it? It's bloody connected to his soul, shattering it is fatal to him!" The Joker retrieved a card and was about to raise his hand only to be forcibly stopped.

The hand gripping his shoulder tightened, rendering him unable to take another step or activate his card.

"I cannot tolerate any of your recklessness right now, stay put!"

The Joker glared back at his brother but ended up putting the card away.