"Now you understand how your victims feel when you invade their home and mercilessly slaughter every last one of them."

Arthur spoke to the commander, who somersaulted, and, mid-air, fired arrows at the unmoving parasite. Unfortunately for the Cthulhu, not one of its arrows managed to get past Arthur's defenses. They either struck his Dark Barrier or were deflected by half-transparent grey tornadoes, also knows as death storms.

"You come, uninvited, wreak havoc like an abomination and explain your actions through such lies!"

The enormous monster snickered at Arthur, showing a row of straight white teeth. His lips curved upwards as he lowered his bow and continued:

"Before you come lecturing me or my kin about our actions, take a thorough look at the history, the true history, not the fabricated one."

Arthur listened to the rambling commander, his eye fixated on the enemy and his staff raised but no attacks were unleashed. Deep inside, he knew that this strange being, leading the bunch of barbaric and mindless aliens, was most likely spouting nonsense, however, there was something about his tone. He didn't seem to be acting or trying to buy time, his words genuine, containing anger and frustration as if he was the one being blamed.

Unfortunately, even if there was a sliver of truth in his words, that doesn't change anything. They still massacred a whole world, eradicated all races but themselves and top it all, took joy in the weaklings' suffering, using them as 'decoration' to liven their mood.

"I don't need to look at history to understand. I saw enough to know that you and your race are evil, filth that does not belong here."

The commander snorted, glanced at the scorched and bloodied remains of the 'lucky' Cthulhu which weren't engulfed by the Dark Rizaki, and retorted:

"Just because we're different, mentally and physically, doesn't mean we're evil. We have different perspectives, we do not view the world like humans, elves, or dwarves. We were created this way, it's not our fault that we seek violence instead of peace. Furthermore, even without our interference, this world was bound to break, either by our hands or the humans. A greedy race, pretending to be peaceful but is actually the most dangerous of them all."

His golden pupils glared at Arthur, his gaze unwavering and he clenched his teeth.

"Tell me, undead, how are we different to the humans, who, at the very beginning, massacred almost the entirety of the elven race, fearing their magic. It was only after a bitter war that took half of the population that the two races settled, finally choosing to 'cooperate'. Although I say cooperate, it was hardly any different from a cold war that lasted until our arrival. Humans sought domination… power, they wanted to enslave anyone and anything that didn't look like them."

After a few seconds of silence crept by, Arthur said: "Yes, they fought, over and over, however, there were still boundaries. I won't defend the humans but they sure as hell didn't want to destroy this world. It's their business if they wanted to dominate it but they didn't resort to cruel means like you did."

As if he heard a joke, the commander let out a sarcastic laugh and countered: "Cruel means? Then what do you call the White Plague? An artificial disease that killed thousands of humans and elves alike, causing them to suffer for days. The weapons they created and used against anyone who opposed them. Actually, did you know that we learned about torture from humans? We merely imitated them. We weren't born outright defected."

"Anyway, it's not like bickering like this will change anything. Raise your bow."

Arthur pointed his staff at the commander and fired several, successive blasts conjured from death energy. They were formless and swift as they instantaneously hit the Cthulhu, causing him to take a few steps back.

He tried to retaliate by shooting an arrow, however, his hands were frozen by invisible, soft yet unbreakable threads. He only needed to let go of the metallic string but such a simple action wasn't possible.

His whole body fell into a net of threads. When he took a few steps back due to Arthur's previous attack, he fell right into the parasite's trap.

While the commander was explaining himself, Arthur used his threads to form an invisible war, like a spider's web. Even with his over-sized body and monstrous strength, the Cthulhu was rendered immobile and defenseless.

Having caught the enemy, Arthur floated closer to the commander, his flaming green eye dancing an in an unsettling manner.

"If all of your race was half as intelligent as you are, maybe it wouldn't have come to this. Maybe, just maybe, you could have reached a compromise."

Though he was captured and surely about to be killed, the being remained unfazed, even when he was facing death. His gripping golden eyes remained locked on the robbed-undead making its way toward him.

"You don't understand. We were blamed since our creation… and not only us, our magnanimous God wasn't spared too. Those naysayers, foolish and restless, wanted to find a target to incriminate, and we were just unlucky to be created at such a time, the perfect time for them."

"As I told you before, I shall repeat it again. Your words won't change a thing, they never will… it's over now."

The commander flashed a hideous smile at Arthur, his body wriggling and his tied hand balling into clenched fists.

"No, it's not over. It will only be so when the humans are gone. Undead, with time, you will come to understand how dangerous and corrupted humans are, how one second they wave their innocence flag and the other, they stab you in the back, ruthlessly and mercilessly. Beware."

The commander didn't wait for Arthur's final attack and, instead, freed one of his hands and stabbed an arrow into his heart, killing himself.

Arthur looked at the lifeless body of the commander laying on the ground and let out a soft sigh, waving his hand, storing the Cthulhu's body then sending a blinding light high-up in the sky. This radiance was the signal meant for the three hiding in the back.

A few seconds later, Lucy, accompanied by Lissandra and Vyncent, appeared next to Arthur. The silver-haired woman's gaze was on Arthur, who was lost in his thoughts.

"To be honest, I didn't expect it so end so quickly and… easily."

Vyncent let out a surprised whistle as he saw the scatted bodies of the dead Cthulhu, most of them scorched or missing a head or a limb.

"Let us go, I do not the smell of this place."

Arthur landed on the ground and started walking North-East, seemingly still absent-minded. Sadly, his pondering was cut short as a disembodied voice rang inside of his head.

"My dear guest, do you feel happy now that you got rid of one obstacle? Relieved after massacring thousands of my children?"

As he heard this familiar voice, Arthur knew that it was Timos, the massive being that could be seen from all corners of this world.

'They simply got what they deserved.'

"Yes yes, don't misunderstand me, I do not blame you or resent you. It was a necessary action to get to your destination and I fully support your direct and swift means. It's just that… I'm curious about your thoughts, your 'feelings'. Unlike your humble and dear comrades, I cannot see through you. You're like an impasse, blocking me and everyone, and, this picked my interest. A hot and interesting topic which can distract me for a while, decrease some of my unrestrained boredom."

'I'm not obliged to talk to you, much less reply.'

"Of course not! What you do is entirely up to you. I'll talk and you, unwilling to converse, will quietly listen to me. You're free to deny my words if you ever want to, too."