The last exchange between the Godspirits and Sol'khin caused a lot of chaos, furthermore, the exploding Red Tower made things even worse as it spared no one. Apart from very few individuals who retreated in time, all the rest were injured and some were killed on the spot due to not being able to handle the explosive force.

Arthur supported the heavily injured Lucy and looked up to the sky, precisely at a dense amount of black flag strangely twirling around. Only Zodiak wasn't affected by the explosion and, in fact, he managed to pull Sol'khin's soul inside of him but it wasn't the end yet.

The old man's body was convulsing intensely as he clutched his chest and was barely able to support himself and not fall from the sky. Including Arthur, everyone else was watching the unfolding events with curiosity and astonishment.

"C-commander! Those are the tower's rewards!"

The second-in-command of the Holy Army pointed at two bright lights while speaking to Seraph, the commander.

Just as she said that, the attention of all those who were present, focused on two lights, one red and the other white. Upon a closer look, one was a red stone and the other was an immaterial object that emitted a blinding white light, like a star.

They are the Blessing Stone and the Wish Star, two miraculous items that would make anyone greedy. Apart from a selected few whose goal was Sol'khin, the rest of the contestants all craved for these two heaven-defying items. So, it should not come at a surprise to see them go insane when these two items made their appearance after the tower was gone, for good.

As if drawn by something, the Blessing Stone and the Wish Star shot straight at Zodiak. They started spinning around the black fog and waiting for something to finish, however, many of the contestants refused to stay still and started acting.

They wanted to get their hands on these two items and they didn't care about Zodiak and whatever was inside of him. The first ones who acted were Hach'ara and Sickle Bart, two vicious and powerful individuals.

The hideous looking old man controlled his insects while he wielded a lengthy poisoned dagger, as for Sickle Bart, he attacked using his scissor-like metallic limbs.

Neither of the two assailants cared about the unresponsive Zodiak and, from the looks of it, their attacks were about to cause a lot of collateral damage. When they were but a few meters away from the spinning stone and white light, the two were suddenly faced with a colossal black silhouette which blocked their view and sent them flying in a split second.

The sudden appearance of this humongous black-figure brought fear to everyone. The sheer size of this monster was second only to Sigradzomr, its huge inky black wings and the dark scales covering its body made it even more frightening. In every sense of the word, it resembled the fearsome black dragons, the fully grown and powerful ones. The pressure was that of a dragon and its blood-red eyes were a confirmation that it was fully awake and alive.

******

"My dear guest, remember to not steal its stats. Not only are they more than you can handle, it can also lead to an avoidable backlash. Black Dragons are skilled in mental attacks and even though this one is dead, it can still control anything that invades its body. When the time comes and you have to use this dragon's body, be careful of the enemies outside… and inside."

Timos warned Arthur while handing the massive black dragon corpse to him. In response, the parasite examined the dragon before saying:

"Who's this anyway?"

"The Black Dragon Xedieg, son of the Elder Dragon Sigradzomr."

It was the first time Arthur heard of such names and as he wasn't very interested in the matter, he didn't ask the Black Devil anything else related to the dragons, which was unfortunate.

*****

"What's happening? Wasn't that Arthur?"

Forne, who was semi-consciousness and unable to even fly, was currently being carried atop of the Azure Dragon. With the exception of 'X' and the Void Behemoth, everyone else was riding on Arthur, who transformed into the Divine Beast. Lucy was also present but she seemed to be absent-minded as she kept looking back.

…

Going back a few minutes to the past, right after the explosion occurred, Arthur activated his new ability and created clones of himself. One of the clones was sent to take care of the rest while the main body remained next to Zodiak to protect him and finish this once and for all. Although Lucy was a bit unwilling, Arthur managed to convince her to go ahead in order to take care of something for him.

The moment Arthur left the Red Tower, alarms unceasingly echoed inside of his head, they belonged to both the system and the oaths he made in the past. It didn't take him long to figure out what's happening.

Lucy needs to wait for him in the boundary between the System and the Cloud Sea Universe, while this clone will head directly to Astria. There was also a second clone which was tasked with an additional matter.

…

"You owe me now."

With a deep voice, Arthur replied to the tired Forne, though his words were meant for everyone else, excluding his wife, of course.

"Owe?"

"Yes, and I expect you to return the favor really soon. In a few days, actually."

After leaving the planet and finding a relatively empty and safe spot, the Azure Dragon stopped its mad flight. A soothing white light enveloped Forne and healed some of his injuries, as for G'am Tir and Celes, their bodies rejected Life Energy so they had to resort to other things. Actually, the Grey Seat of Decay was currently unconscious but she didn't seem to be in danger, though the emperor's clone was turning transparent periodically.

"You still have not told me if Sol'khin is gone or not!"

Forne glared back at the massive azure dragon, wanting to hear a confirmation from the parasite's mouth.

"He will die. You did your best and, honestly, the moment Sol'khin's soul was pulled from the Nameless Knight's body, it no longer became your guys' business. Now then."

The Azure Dragon swiftly turned around and disappeared from their sight seconds later. As for Lucy, she politely bowed her head to the Black Seat of Death before flying to the opposite direction.