Zodiak said his piece then charged at Sol'khin, covering himself in the Dark Magic flames and going all-out. Arthur followed behind him and overtook the old man thanks to his Lightning magic, once he was upon his target, he slowed time and unhesitatingly slashed with his sword.

Anduril was used to block the attack but it wasn't fully able to resist Arthur's strike due to the slowed time, causing Sol'khin to be flung in the air. Zodiak's flames cascaded on Sol'khin, engulfing him entirely and forcing the black sword out of his hand, at last. The last to attack was Lucy, who managed to quickly recover and unleash her fusion flames which overwhelmed Leiu's darkness and actually melt and freeze the thick black armor protecting his body.

The three coordinated their attacks flawlessly, not leaving Sol'khin even a second to take a breather. Lucy's devil arm intensely vibrated then released an invisible and destructive sound wave from her elbow, which cracked the space then headed towards her target, which tried to block it only to be sent flying like a kite.

Arthur used [Faster than Death], appearing behind Sol'khin, he manipulated Gravity to sink the latter's body then he unleashed hundreds of tiny Void Mouths which creepily surrounded the enemy and started devouring everything in their way.

In retaliation, Sol'khin twisted his body and shot laser-like beams from his fingers, disintegrating the Void Mouths and hitting Arthur. Fortunately, before getting hit for the second time by the beams, Zodiak interfered, his body now resembled a black phoenix as it screeched and crashed into Leiu.

A sea of dark blue flames spread across all directions, consuming everything and even pushing both Arthur and Lucy away. The claws of the black phoenix were clashing with Sol'khin's arm, which managed to stop the monstrous force behind this inky black flaming monster.

"This is a matter between us three… so…."

While blocking Zodiak, Sol'khin spat a minuscule yet frightening black hole from his mouth, which almost instantly sucked him and Zodiak into it. Arthur, who was about to attack, was close enough to be pulled too but Lucy wasn't fast enough to join them as it quickly vanished from the 49th floor.

The White Specter stood there, perplexed, and unable to come up with a solution. She only snapped out of it when the Joker landed next to her and said:

"What he said is actually true… sadly. Don't worry though, Arthur will return safely. You just have to wait outside."

He handed her one of his special red cards then waved his hand, enveloping her in a white light which teleported the unwilling Lucy outside of the Red Tower.

*****

"Isn't this better? No one to bother us or interfere in our personal matter."

Sol'khin laughed as he faced both Arthur and Zodiak. They appeared in a world totally opposite to the world of darkness. This place very much resembled the endless white space inside of the ARK but Arthur felt uncomfortable, even Zodiak's flames were slightly suppressed.

Sol'khin looked around in happiness while saying: "Can you feel it? This shackling sensation! It's practically an immaterial prison!"

The old man and the parasite didn't talk and, instead, attacked the enemy from both sides, bombarding him with all kinds of attacks. Arthur transformed into the Vermilion Bird while Zodiak was a black phoenix, the two divine beasts were much bigger than their tiny target, who wielded unimaginable strength capable of resisting their special flames.

Hellfire and vermilion flame fused together as they covered the sky and strengthened Zodiak's flames, these three types of flames were harmonious and compatible as they descended upon Sol'khin who raised his hand and released an absurd amount of Darkness, which canceled the incoming wave of flames.

Using their massive bodies, Zodiak and Arthur attacked their enemy, pushing him back bit by bit and breaking the armor. No matter how powerful Sol'khin was, he wasn't able to deal with them simultaneously so he ended up being thrashed even when he tried counterattacking with Leiu's darkness, which was neither easy to control nor strong enough to block Zodiak's Dark Magic or Arthur wide variety of skills.

Without needing to communicate, Arthur and Zodiak behaved like one entity, supporting each other and attacking at the perfect moments.

The vermilion bird wildly screeched then transformed into an Azure Dragon which opened its mouth and spat is illusory red flames. As for Zodiak, he created a black cube which trapped Sol'khin inside whilst the dragonic flames engulfed him. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to weaken the enemy but it did considerable damage to the armor protecting his body, charring it and angering him even more.

"It seems that this body is unwilling to obey anymore… hmpf! Not like it matters!"

While kneeling on the ground, Sol'khin spat some blood then ripped a small piece of armor that remained around his chest before stabbing his chest and pulling a strange object.

"He's going to use his Godspirit… his real form!"

Finally, it was the golden opportunity to attack Sol'khin as he was discarding Leiu's body, however, when Zodiak tried attacking, his body faltered and the dark blue flames quietened down for a few seconds, buying the enemy enough time to complete his brief ritual.

As for Arthur, he found himself immobilized as the emerging God Spirit was affecting his inferior and incomplete soul. A crimson tear which emitted a suffocatingly savage aura appeared above Leiu's body, which fell on the ground the moment Sol'khin revealed his true appearance.

A faceless head showed itself from within the tear, which was like a portal to another dimension. The violent energy pushed away both Zodiak and Arthur, sending them all the way to the end of this strange dimension.

Arthur was able to catch Zodiak's body but when he tried using Life Magic, it wouldn't enter the old man's body.

"It's no use… I'm reaching my time limit."

Arthur frowned and didn't know what to say. The old man stood up with great difficulty, his breathing was heavy and his body was shaking, clearly not in a state to fight.

What made it worse is that Sol'khin didn't wait for them as the tear released an unstoppable blast which clashed with Arthur, who used the black turtle body to try and block it. The shells disintegrated but they managed to resist the first strike and protect Zodiak.

*****

Lucy looked around and once she confirmed her surroundings, she took out a small metallic object that she received from a lower floor. In front of her was a monitor which displayed the events unfolding in the white isolated floor where Arthur and co were.

The object she was holding was round and had two colors, one was blue and the other was crimson. It was actually the symbol of their sect, a Moon and a Star.