As she saw a bound Arthur being bulled into that hellish world, Lucy was in a state of panic.

"What to do what to do…" She repeatedly mumbled those words while following the golden rope. She didn't dare to use her power to get rid of the rope, afraid that it'll come back tougher than before and worsen the situation of her husband.

As for Arthur, he tried his best to come up with a solution but time was pressing and the situation was definitely not in his favor. The rope was tightly binding his four limbs and limiting his movement, he even lost hold of Makaze, which was stabbed in the ground and vibrating intensely, clearly aware of its owner's state but also helpless to do anything.

At first, neither Arthur nor Lucy heard Saly's cries, however, when Arthur was around two hundred meters away from the red gate, the painful wails of the little girl could be heard. She was being dragged by the monk, who had difficulties managing the struggling girl.

"Hurry up and get her to safety."

Saly's face had a drastic change as he heard Saly's cries. She hesitated for a split second before nodding her hand and flying towards the retreating old monk.

The woman left a trail of falling snowflakes, her aura increased by several folds and an illusory white tail made its appearance. As she charged at the monk, she let out a wild and deafening screech akin to a banshee, this screech stopped the monk and momentarily locked him in place.

Several gunshots reverberated across the area as Lucy didn't hesitate to deplete her Mana and shoot at the dazed monk. Her arm, which hasn't fully recovered yet, turned into a bloody mess, covered in blood and ballooning veins and shredded muscles, it was a horrifying sight to behold.

After she fired multiple shots, her hands fell down, unable to be used anymore. Lucy didn't care, she grasped her saber with her other hand and jumped at the monk, who's been hit by some of the bullet, creating bloody holes in his abdomen, shoulder, and thighs.

The old man chanted his Buddhist mantra, protecting himself from the incoming Lucy while counter-attacking by using a dangerous palm technique. In a way, it was like Arthur's palm skill as the old man's hand shone with a blinding light and clashed with the thin white saber, shattering it instantaneously.

Lucy discarded the broken weapon, crossed her arms and braced herself for the impact. Meanwhile, seven ice lotuses stealthily made their way toward Saly, they bloomed in a split second and frozen the shackles binding the little girl then they enveloped Saly and brought her away from the old monk.

The little girl was helpless to do anything, she could only watch as her mother was sent flying and her father being dragged into Oblivion.

After he got rid of the silver-haired woman, the monk was about to depart only for a large, looming shadow to cover his view. Just the mere sight of the three-headed creature blocking his path gave him chilling shivers down his spine. Before he the old monk could grab the little girl, who was being dragged by the ice lotuses, the angel of death intervened and jumped at the monk.

Strange grey tornados spun around the old monk while the white-furred middle head spat a blinding light which landed on the monk, surprisingly healing his body in an instant then turning his skin black. In retaliation the monk retrieved a strange instrument and banged his palm on it, causing it to emit a continuous deafening ringing noise.

Golden mantras appeared around the old man, purifying the blackness covering his skin and enveloping him in some sort of semi-transparent sphere covered with an unknown language.

The monk spent a few seconds chanting with a low voice and when he was finally done, the sky up above split and a figure as large as the angel of death descended. This 'thing' was similar to Buddha, it was sitting cross-legged and had multiple-arms. Its closed eyes abruptly opened, showing to savage red pupils directed at the angel.

The statue's eyes were filled with a suffocating killing intent, slowly but surely, the pressure from this Buddhas-like statue started weighing down on the three-headed creature, pushing it toward the ground.

Meanwhile, Saly was dragged into a rather safe location and the seven lotuses, being separated from their owner for a long time, automatically returned to Lucy's side.

Her arm was bloodied and mangled and the previous attack of the monk severely wounded her. A palm imprint could be seen on her chest, a golden energy leaked out of the imprint, dispersing into the air.

Lucy used her Yin Physique to get rid of the imprint but it was all futile, she used most of her Mana and her condition was worsening. Seeing that Saly was out of the monk's reach and in a good physical condition, Lucy let out a sigh of relief and glanced at Arthur, who was but meters away from the red gate.

With great difficulty, she supported herself up and was about to head towards him only for a tall figure to block her path.

The woman lifted her head and glared at the person blocking her path, her eyes cold and her face expressionless.

"It ends here, Eva."

Katrina gazed at her injured daughter with a mixture of sadness and guilt. Her stubbornness and actions caused this war but she didn't regret her decision. Although many were lost, it was for a good cause, or she thought, trying to convince herself and come up with a believable excuse.

"It will only end when you die."

Lucy gritted her teeth and tried to fly up only for an overwhelming force to bind her down, rendering immobile.

*****

Saly looked around, her face pale and her body trembling, not from fear but pain. She saw her father on the brink of being banished to a foreign, hellish world, and her mother being obstructed by the Matriarch.

The little girl clenched her fists and was about to transform again and try to save them only to be stopped by a person. He was a man who was hiding underneath a few corpses and when he noticed her presence, he pondered for sometime before he showed himself.

From his aura, Saly noticed that he was a mortal and was heavily injured, obviously, his presence in this chaotic battlefield confused her but she maintained her silence and waited for him to speak first.

This man was none other than Thordan, Lucy's biological father, who was thrown by Arthur earlier. Surprisingly, no one chased after him so he grasped that opportunity to hide and wait till everything is over.

"A-are you Saly?"

He had a worried expression as he walked toward her and inspected her body, seemingly concerned about her wellbeing. In response, the trembling girl took a step back while frowning, confused by his actions.

The man pointed at himself and said

"D-don't you know me? I'm Ev-*cough* Lucy's father. Your grandfather."

Thordan wasn't actually worried about her, he wanted to use her to get out of here. Unfortunately, even after he introduced himself, Saly showed no signs of getting friendly with him. In fact, she seemed more keen on avoiding him.

While groaning in pain and holding his reddened neck, Thordan added:

"I, I'm just a victim here… I only wanted u-"

Before he could finish, a malevolent darkness sprung from the ground and devoured him and within seconds, only Thordan's bones were left. This sudden turn of events shocked little Saly, who backed away only for a gentle force to hold her back.

She turned around only to see an ugly creature staring back at her.

"The situation isn't good, we need to get out of here."

This was none other than Gutcha, who was able to recover a bit from Katrina's earlier strike. He was still in critical condition but killing a mortal like Thordan was no big deal. What was most important right now was guaranteeing Saly's safety. His boss, Arthur, repeatedly told him to prioritize his daughter over anything else, furthermore, things were getting troublesome so retreating is the best and safest option.