Chapter 158

Upon hearing Arthur talk to her, Lissandra snapped out of her daze and turned her head toward Arthur, who was looking at her with a cold and reproaching look, after all, it was partially her fault that these black clothed people came here with Robin and from their look and aura, they certainly didn't come looking for peace . *In fact, just by the fact that the old man used one of his skill to damage the bone dragon, Arthur had already considered him as an enemy that must be eliminated, the question was, how would he kill it .

Since Lissadndara is considered their godly figure and she can easily command them, it would be the best choice to let her take care of things . Albeit becoming a Mortal, Arthur thought none of them would dare to oppose her or even raise his tone or mock her, their worship was not for show and they obeyed her orders letter by letter .

In fast, Lissandra didn't even need o raise her voice or utter a single word . The second the old man laid his eyes on her figure, his eyes turned into complete shock and disbelief .

"G-Goddess?"

Eyes wide open, shaken voice and utter astonishment, that was the state of the old man, he couldn't even keep his composure . He instantly descended from the sky and flew to Lissandra and jumped in front of her, prostrating himself . He needn't an answer from her to confirm her suspicions, there was no way he was wrong, not with the proud demeanor and cold look .

Although he felt that something was strange, what was she doing here and why is the pressure he usually feels from here is gone but he dared not say that loudly for fear of punishment or even worse .

"What do you think you are doing? I did not order you to come here . Are you revolting against your master's orders?"

Seemingly startled but her anger and displeasure, the old man didn't dare raise his head, he kept kowtowing whilst replying with the still shaking voice .

"I,I dare n-not, master! We didn't receive any contact from for more than a year so we thought you . . . . "

The old man realized what he just said and more sweat covered him as he became more nervous and stressful .

Whilst snorting, Lissandra got off the dark cloud and stared angrily at the old man, it was obvious that she didn't pay attention to what he just said, she was just acting like this purely to follow Arthur's orders as apparently, he was her new boss since she became a mortal . Moreover, she can't try anything with the death knight guarding her every second without even letting her breathe, she tried to persuade Arthur or removing the annoyance as she clearly isn't able to flee but he was still rejecting that, completely distrusting her, which is the right thing to do .

"Stop spouting nonsense and go back where you came from, I don't have the time to deal with you bunch . "

Although anyone can see she is but a Mortal if they have the necessary strength, none of the black-clothed people dared to reply or retort, they just turned around and left with the old man in the lead .

The process took just a couple of minutes and the situation was easily solved . Seeing the disappearing shadows of her subordinates vanishing from her sight, Lissandra turned around and looked at Arthur, waiting for some kind of reaction or an order .

She could have ordered them to attack Arthur or take someone hostage but that would be too idiotic and reckless, she knew more than anyone how terrifyingly strong he is so it was better to remain calm and just follow his orders like any normal prisoner .

It's a pity she couldn't warn him about what's bothering her but since he didn't want to hear it then even if he blamed her later on, she wouldn't care .

"Now that nuisance has been taken care of, let's welcome our guests . "

Arthur glanced at Robin, who was not far away from him, standing behind the half-closed gates . After she saw the black-clothed people disappear, she sighed and walked toward Arthur with a relieved expression .

"I apologize for the trouble . "

Heartily laughing, Arthur waved his hand indicating that it was okay and added

"No worries hahaha, it's just a small matter, now why don't you follow us to the headquarters, where we can talk . "

. . .

It didn't take long for them to return to the same meeting room with two extra people who were Robin and her assistant . She still maintained that cold look but Arthur noticed that she was less reserved than a few days ago when he met her in the Itas continent . Although it's a few days for her and everyone else, for him, it's been years, he just couldn't afford to enter another one of those crazy long dreams . Just recently, he went crazy and could have hurt Taliya, who was supposed to be his ally, and that alone proves how unstable he was currently .

"I'm glad to see you safe and sound . Now onto the more important matters, by coming here I presume you accepted my offer?"

Arthur would not mind spending time talking with Robin as she is a good ally and an important friend but he just had too many things in his hands right now and he could not afford to sit leisurely all day .

With Lissandra help, he is going to expand his search territory, first to look for the missing people such as Mary and also look for anything out of the place, anything that has relations with the black mage or the four-armed monster . The second plan was called 'Purification Plan' as it was his first step into cleaning up his home and making it a better and peaceful place . The war ongoing between Demons and Humans can be solved later but for now, he should focus on the more important matters .

--

Robin pulled back her glasses and glanced at the present people to ascertain about a few things then she stared at Arthur and replied resolutely

"Thanks for the welcome and helping me yet again . Just as you said, I discussed your offer and I'm willing to collaborate with your sect and a build a future where my company and your sect can flourish further and further . "

Her tone held some excitement as she could think of countless benefits earned by their alliance . With their incredible manpower and strict laws, coupled with her company's wealth and materials she could provide, the two can help each other in many ways . Powerful guards or even dragons could guard an expedition, assuring that no attacks from bandits or such occur and vice versa, she would provide Gold, materials and so on for the sect to expand on all of the continents, basically, it's a win-win situation .

Arthur clapped his hands two times, indicating his approval, then without hesitation, he waved his hand and took out many delicious dishes coupled with rare juicy meats and unique drinks he made personally .

If we're talking about support-like skills, Arthur literally had all of them, whether it's cooking, liquor making, tailoring or blacksmithing, he had all of them in Advanced, moreover, he had few special skills earned from unique individuals . With the help of those skills and other skills he earned from ancient beasts, he was able to make a diluted liquor while adding a couple of fruit flavors .

Jackob and the rest didn't hesitate as they started devouring the luxuries . Robin also didn't hold back, she merely followed the noble etiquette and ate slowly . Only the reserved Taliya refrained from even lifting her hand as for her, Arthur could only shake his head and ignore her, it's her choice, after all, he's not going to force her to eat anything .

The silver-haired maid silently glanced around her only to see everyone enjoying a hearty meal, Jackob was even dumbstruck by the burning sensation and the strong flavor of the liquor, despite that, he took several gulps, never stopping and requesting Arthur to retrieve more .

After fully enjoying the meal, Jackob and Anastassia left to handle sect matters and Robin also went outside to tour the territory and familiarize herself with the new environment . The only two people left were Taliya and Arthur, as for Lissandra, she was ordered leave long before they began to eat .

Robin didn't forget to give Arthur 6 storage rings and explained how she divided the corpses .

'It's a good thing I decided to visit the Itas Continent' Arthur thought as he played with the six rings in his hands, each one had one thousand five hundred beast corpses with the worst ring having only corpses which had a Level ranging between 30 and 70 and the best ring having corpses which had a whopping Level of 350 .

It wasn't easy to acquire such corpses as Robin didn't have enough manpower to slay such a beast and at a continuous period, so the only thing he could guess was that she able to lucky find the corpse .

One more thing Arthur decided to do is fix his territory before embarking to the cave under the Demon City, he had to take care of his and Lucy's sect and make sure that it's properly managed and is totally safe . He also has to possess all those corpses since he didn't reach his limit yet . After a bit of pondering, he decided to sacrifice one week to do all of that, then when the time is right, he'll fly to where his Death Golem is and patiently wait for the hideous creature to teleport back, no matter how much time it takes, he was willing to wait for it but once he's there, he'll never leave the cave . It was a trip without return, he had to leave Astria!

The silence was getting on Taliya's nerves, Arthur was usually talkative and this atmosphere was quite awkward, especially when she noticed that the other party is completely ignoring her existence . After throwing some glares at Arthur, Taliya was forced to spit out her thoughts .

"About what we talked about earlier . "

Taliya's usually calm temper vanished whenever she's talking with him . When she saw that he was still lost in thoughts, dark and ruthless thoughts rampaged inside her mind .

'He's so strong, I'm sure he wouldn't die, right?'

Although she was hesitating at first, she could not hold back her anger and frustration anymore, with a swift and flawless movements, she withdrew one of her short blades and threw it at Arthur .

Unfortunately, nothing happened even after throwing her sharp blade, when it was about twenty centimeters away from Arthur, the short blade broke into small pieces as if it hit an unbreakable barrier .

What she didn't know was that Arthur constantly had a Dark Barrier around him, after so much time has passed, it became a habit of his . Furthermore, is Lucy was here, he would unconsciously create two kinds of barriers around her, making sure she's always protected from any sneak-attacks .

Even though the goal she wished for wasn't reached, at least her attack awakened Arthur from his deep thoughts . With a confused expression and tilted face, he looked at Taliya, demanding an explanation for her previous actions .

"You were lost in thoughts, it was the only method I can think of . "

'Only method my ass, if it was another person, he would have been dead!'

Keeping his thoughts to himself, Arthur coughed and added

"So you were saying?"

"A-ah, about our deal . . . . "

Whilst dismissively waving his hand, Arthur didn't bother giving an appropriate answer

"I think Alina most likely disappeared the same way the others did meaning is we find the source, we find all of them . As for the temporary pause, it'll last for one week, in meantime you go back to the Demon Continent and inform your sister and I'll send scouts all over Astria to search for clues, that is all I can do . "

Taliya knew that it's the best answer she could get for now . But what she was stuck in a dilemma, go back or not . Technically, he didn't do his part of the deal so she can't honor hers but he clearly tried to retrieve the little girl so she could only sigh and force herself to make a decision that she didn't want to take .

Taliya sat up and left the room after leaving one final phrase

"For now, I'll not leave, I will only leave when the deal is done as I promised to help you retrieve my niece . "

With that, the head maid left the room, leaving Arthur alone .

----

It was only after a couple of minutes that Arthur sat up from the chair and prepared to leave the room but once again, he was interrupted . A black shadow materialized in front of him until it formed the silhouette of an individual . It was, in fact, Anastassia, who was wearing her usual clothes which covered her appearance .

Knitting his brows, Arthur looked at the silent woman in front of him, expecting her to say something but the latter coldly glared at him for sometime before saying

"Lucy will kill you if she knew that you're making a deal with another woman . "

Seemingly carefree, Arthur shrugged his shoulders and casually replied

"It's just a deal . I'm not cheating on her and I do not have any thoughts of laying my hand on the maid . "

"I already asked the maid about the deal . You want her to follow you? That's even more of a reason for Lucy to kill you AND her . "

The relationship between Anastassia and Lucy was not that close but they were not strangers too . Lucy took care of her when she was injured and they would chat from time to time, as someone who witnessed how much Lucy loves Arthur, she also knew that she is an overprotective woman who easily gets jealous, even when Arthur talk to her!

So seeing that Arthur was traveling with a maid, and a pretty one at that, it didn't sit quite well with Anastassia, she first thought he was an unfaithful man but he doesn't seem to be that kind of person so she didn't immediately jump to thoughtless conclusions .

"I only love two people and they are my daughter and wife and I know you are fully aware of that, right?"

His tone was still casual but a hint of seriousness and resolution could be felt from it, Anastassia retracted her cold glare and sighed .

She was not an expert in communication but she was able to see the loneliness in his eyes, even though he kept a carefree attitude, there is no doubt that he is missing his family .

'It seems I was overthinking . '

Yet again, Anastassia's figure blurred and disappeared from the room .

"Don't forget that you always have a friend to speak to . As my benefactor and friend, I cannot let you fall into a despair or else Lucy would never forgive me . . . . "

-----------------------

The very first day Arthur literally did not leave his room . Anastassia and the others didn't come to bother him in his private room . Although they don't know his Race or just presumed he's a Human, they know at least that he has countless secrets and didn't insist on knowing the truth .

With so many corpses to possess and stats to gain, Arthur didn't hold back when he got back, he immediately started possessing corpses left and right and then he absorbed them using [Death Touch] . The thing is, he is probably getting experience by using that but it was so meager that it's basically useless right now .

He tried reading the content of the letter again but it didn't help at all . Such a skill cannot be this limited, especially if it's compared to [Faster Than Death] which is a godly skill that never betrayed Arthur's expectation .

The thing is, this instant movement skill is not that perfect, it's certainly helpful in many ways but some enemies such as the dragons, can predict where he will teleport to, he also cannot spam it in a short amount of time .

It is possible to activate it after a second or two but in close-range combat, a second is enough for a God to pierce his heart or finish him .

There was also strong skills such as [Bear affinity] or [Fierce Calling], the first was helpful if he possessed a bear but he would rather possess a unique body of a Griffin than an ancient bear due to the accumulated passives, they would bring much more advantage to him than 50% bonus stats, especially if his stats reach a certain limit .

As for the latter, which conjures an image of a bear, the cost is simply too absurd, just ten seconds would consume 5 Million Mana points . This amount is but a drop of his Mana Pool but it's still outrageously high which is why he refrained from using it against Bucama .

The list goes on and on, numerous skills, forbidden spells or mysterious techniques, he had so much that it became mind-numbing, so he focused only his primary skills and would rarely use the other ones, to conserve Mana and attack more efficiently whilst doing more damage .

Overall, he can be considered both a physical and magical oriented fighter, it depends on the enemy and environment . He would rather fight in a long range to avoid deadly attack such as Bucama's last desperate attack but that could only blame himself as he dropped his guard and was exhausted .

He longed for his wife and daughter so he sought for more power, it's only logical, however, he didn't forget his friends residing on Astria, for this purpose, he decided to sacrifice this week to prepare things for Anastassia and the rest .

After he finishes possessing all those corpses, he would clean the territory from any possible enemies, spies or anything, they may be insignificant for him but Arthur doesn't know how much time he would be absent . He also needs to make this land a bit more convenient . Unfortunately, the western continent was a wasteland covered with dry earth and mountains of sables, it was literally a hot and dangerous desert which is exactly why the other powerful factions ignored it and didn't think of conquering it .

But Arthur thought of it differently, with the use of his Nature and Plant Magic, along with his Earth Attribute and other special skills, he was going to create something worth fighting for, not just a desolate territory that people take shelter in for fear of the unknown laying all around them .

---------

It took Arthur 7 hours to possess 9,000 corpses, he would look at his stats every 1,000 corpses possessed . As for the skills, he either already possessed them or earned a few ones but none was worth mentioning . This was to be expected since he possessed so many species that it's unlikely to get a new skill, so that means if he stays on Astria, the probability of possessing a powerful being or obtaining a new strong skill is very low .

When this boring job was done, Arthur was bewildered to see that his stats still didn't reach a limit, but the result was truly not bad .

TITLE: MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK HOLDER

Level: ???

Class: Dark ARK Parasite

Realm: Immortal 9th Grade

-

Strength: 195 . 6M

Intelligence: 207 . 6M

Agility: 179 . 1M

Wisdom: 156 . 7M

Vitality: 153 . 9M

Dexterity: 150 . 2M

-

Health:162 . 4M // Health Regen: 77941/s

Nether Energy: 145 . 6M // Nether Energy Regen: 90500/s

Mana: 244M // Mana Regen: 141378/s

Stamina: Infinite /Stamina Regen: ???

Creation : 125

Attack: 288 . 8M

Defense: 209 . 4M

Magic defense: 50 . 4M

Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / Ancient Threads / Sixth sense / ARK(Activated)

Mental Power: 1999

---

Elemental Resistances:

Darkness: 100%

Wind: 35%

Water: 75%

Earth: 75%

Light/holy: 5%

Shadow: 30%

Lightning: 100%

Ice: 30%

---

Death Count: 1 (2 more to obtain 'Unbound')

With an average increase of 10 Million points, that was enough for Arthur to feel his muscles itching and his bones hardening, immense power covered him and a strange yet stimulating feeling surged inside of him . The black orb inside of his Dantian was emitting a strange black light and an almost invisible talisman was rotating around it, it was burning with black flames and had runes that were incomprehensible for Arthur .

Seeing his body in such a state, Arthur knew that with or without Nether Energy, his body will soon reach its limits and will force itself to evolve and become a Divine Realm, however, he didn't know if that's a good or bad thing .

After spending an extra hour trying a few things, Arthur left his private room and began his work . First, he circled around the sect main territory a few times to get a better view, then he floated near the central sky-high tower of the sect and closed his eyes .

Endless amounts of Mana were gathered from his Dantian, emptying it bit by bit, Arthur slowly raised his hands upwards and concentrated on channeling his Mana toward the specific location in his mind .

His focus was totally on put on this process, so he was defenseless but that wasn't a big problem as a Dark Barrier was around him and his loyal main bone dragon was surveying the surroundings, moreover, to make it even safer, Arthur summoned the Book of the Damned made it the rotten hand stick out of it and float next to him, protecting him from any sudden attacks .

Very soon, the main territory of the MoonStar Sect, which was undoubtedly huge, began shaking violently . The earth seemed about to shatter at any moment and gloomy clouds covered the shining sun, making the atmosphere ominous and dark . People panicked and some experts retrieved their weapons and cautiously stared at the sky . Even Anastassia and Jackob hastily left their rooms and looked at the sky only to see Arthur standing high up in the sky, with his two hands stretched high and a strange book with a hand floating next to him .

Anastassia sighed upon seeing this and returned to her room as if nothing was happening, as for Jackob, he stared at Arthur in awe and admiration . His dreams were to be able to fly like Anastassia, soar the sky and look at the sect from above, that feeling of freedom is what he sought, along with the absolute strength of course .

--

From a corner of the tower, in a room that was specifically given to Lissandra, the woman was silently sitting on a chair and staring at the gloomy sky . Due to her extremely low stats, she wasn't able to see Arthur who was hundreds of meters above, she only saw a black dot but she didn't need to see that to know that he was the source of this sudden change .

'Just what are you . . . . '

She kept staring for a couple of minutes before she resumed doing her experiment . From the point of view of an outsider, she was merely mixing useless materials but more than anyone, Lissandra hoped that this desperate experiment works or else everyone will be doomed, including her .

She had no choice but to rely on such a stupid idea that she previously thought to be just nonsense and it was all Arthur's fault, who didn't even spare a couple of seconds to listen to her .

Gritting her teeth, Lisandra took a simple iron knife with one sharp edge and stabbed the tip of her finger, making some droplets of blood drop into the wooden bowl and mix with the salt and the other ingredients .

---

Changes were occurring all over the edges of the MoonStar sect territory, the walls that were made out of weak stones and simple mud were slowly but surely replaced but an enforced black earthen wall with thorny vines stuck on it . The consumption was enormous but thanks to his incredibly high Mana recovery, Arthur was more or less able to cope with this . Walls as high as thirty meters were raised from all the edges .

Thirty meters in height, four meters thick along with thorny vines that had paralyzing poison glued to the walls . He only left the roofs of the walls empty of such plants so the members of the sect could defend from there . This was but the first step yet it was not an easy thing to do .

Drops of sweats appeared on Arthur's forehead, it wasn't Physical fatigue but Mental exhaustion, he wasn't consuming Mental Power but to simply spread his magic as far as dozens of kilometers in all direction and fusing two attributes, it wasn't an easy thing to achieve .

As he was doing this, chaos covered the sect as they thought their territory was under attack . Fortunately, Jackob snapped out of his long daze and commanded the army made from the past warriors and such to calm down and organize themselves, as for the disciples of the Ma Clan, they were much calmer and experienced, one word from Anastassia was enough to settle things .

There were two main armies the sect possessed, one belonged to Anastassia and it was called the first army, and the second one belonged to Jackob but overall, he was the commanding general and even had the authority to command the disciples of the Ma Clan, Anastassia would only step out if there's an enemy stronger than Jackob, or something that he could not cope with, such as leaders of other seclusive clans or sect for example .

The Sect had fought many battles, since they suddenly appeared on the western continent, many tribes and clans were not so pleased with that so they made alliances and attacked in succession but all of that was totally futile, with the assistance of the red minotaur and the prowess of the disciples, the sect didn't suffer any big damage and even the mud and weak stones walls remained unscathed until now .

The mud and stone walls were only ten meters tall but now these walls shattered and now, a glorious and enormous wall replaced them .

"W-what is that?"

One of the stationed guards near the gates dumbly stared at the towering wall in front of him with a stupefied gaze, he stretched his hand to touch the thorny vines only to feel a sting in his hand which was followed by a strong numbness .

He was only shaken off his daze when his friend, the second guard shook his shoulders violently and slapped him a few times before warning him to not act recklessly and do stupid and unnecessary things .

"Stupid fucker! Not only do you look like a monkey but you also act like one? Pull yourself together and come with me to guard the gates or what was left of them!"

With that, the burly tanned guard held his bronze spear and darted to the falling gates . Even the red minotaur, which was guarding the main gates situated at the North, was panicking as it saw the wall rising from the ground and feeling the heavily shaking ground, making it unable to stand properly .

At first, it was confused due to not knowing what's happening, however, its limited intelligence at least made it able to grasp its sword and turn around whilst staring at the empty and deserted horizon . Steam came out of its two nostrils and some blood veins appeared as it tightened its hold on the sword, seemingly fully ready to fight, its only thought was to defend the sect territory and it thought the shaking was due to a huge monster coming or an unimaginably big army of enemies heading its way .

----

By the end of the process, which took a quarter of an hour, all the guards were standing near the newly constructed gates and walls, in revelation and shock, they couldn't fathom what's in front of them, even the red minotaur was dumbfounded at it raised its head and stared at the two black gold gates, they were towering and inconceivable, as if they were not just gates, but Holy gates leading to a superior world .

The same symbol was engraved on all the gates with the biggest one being on the main gate, a circle with a red star inside of it, it didn't seem like anything special at first but for those who were part of the sect, they knew it was the sect's one and only symbol .

"By the three gods . . . . "

The monkey-looking guard stared at the walls in amazement, wide open mouths and eyes full of disbelief . Again, he couldn't help but touch the gates, which were made from a special black gold material, extremely hard but smooth when touched . It was a unique kind of Gold that can be used when mixed with a few minerals . Using the Metal Attribute along with a bit of fusion with the Nature Magic, Arthur was able to create 4 of those gates and a big one . It took him a lot of effort and by the end of all of it, he completely emptied out his Mana Pool . Although in just a few seconds, it regenerated greatly but nonetheless, creating this protective walls and gates was not doable if he didn't have that much Mental Power and control over his skills .

All the main territory of the sect was enveloped by the black earthen walls with thorny vines stuck into them . There were four gates with a fifth one being at the North, which was the main one leading to the sect .

This was his home and he wished that when he brought back Lucy and Saly, he'll prepare a proper wedding, it'll be the greatest wedding ever done on Astria . They are officially married right now, that's for sure, but he didn't want it to be just an exchange of rings, he wanted to be more special and a memory that shall never be forgotten .

----

Later that day, when night has fallen and the sky became jet black, Arthur stood at the top of the tower, contemplating the starry sky with a strange look . It was so peaceful yet lonely . As families were either eating dinner in their homes with the illuminations of the candles, he was standing alone, reminiscing about his happy memories with Lucy .

Now that he thought about it, he didn't pass that much peaceful time with her . Every time they wanted to settle for some time, an accident occurs or danger knocks on their door . He wanted to tour Astria slowly with her, visit every possible place and enjoy their life as much as they can .

He didn't want such life for her, truly! From fighting the church to invading the Underworld, facing Medusa and many troublesome enemies, he didn't sign for this and neither has he the power to protect everything .

'Why couldn't life be as easy as on Earth? Just with a little bit of money, you can live peacefully . . . '

Endless fortune and never stopping gain of strength but that wasn't enough to compensate for the danger and fights they had to handle . In all honesty, he wanted to bring Lucy and Saly back and then establish the sect with his wife, never bothering with other affairs, however, such a wish is not reasonable, at least not right now .

He made a deal with the World Tree, and there are many mysterious things happening on Astria and adding that to the plans Fate has prepared for him, having a peaceful life should be the last of his concerns yet despite all of that, he still longed for it .

. . .

After one final sigh, Arthur was going to return to his room when all of a sudden, an overwhelming amount of power suddenly covered him, in every muscle bone . It resembled the feeling of strengthening when his stats increased but this one was more intense and even a bit painful .

He had a strong urge to release all this pent-up power, in any way possible but without even trying it, he knew it'll be dangerous and there will be a lot of casualties .

"Argh"

While half kneeling and clutching his abdomen, exactly where his Dantian is, Arthur's half kneeling soon transformed into squatting, almost laying flat on the ground .

The feeling was soon replaced by an unimaginable stomachache as if it was going to explode at any given second, his facial complexions became paler and even though he tried to hold it, a groan couldn't help but come out of his mouth .

Seconds passed slowly and no matter how many times he tried to teleport out of the territory or fly high up in the sky to release this sudden power, he couldn't even properly stand up much less fly, even summoning his Dark Cloud didn't work .

In the spur of the moment, when he felt that it was going to explode at the next second, Arthur spontaneously entered the ARK as it seemed the wisest and safest choice he currently had .

*Welcome to the ARK . *

The usual robotic voice rang in his ears, making breathing in relief as he didn't sense any discomfort and the unusual pain residing in his stomach, precisely his Dantian, has disappeared .

He got rid of that feeling for now but he didn't completely get rid of it . Moreover, Arthur had to instantly enter 'Phase Mode' to stop the flow of time outside, he still had to pass the beginner Phase again but at least that'll buy him sometime .

Entering the ARK is something he couldn't fully comprehend yet because if he didn't enter the 'Phase Mode' then the time won't flow faster but it'll stop if he enters the 'Phase Mode', he just couldn't find any clue on how this cube or whatever it is was doing this time-stop thingy .

It'll surely be a golden skill if he could stop time, he would literally never lose, even against a powerful enemy, especially if he can stop it as long as he can, however, all of that remained just wishful thinking on his part .

*Please choose your weapon . *

The good thing right now is that he can use this small loophole . Although it specified him to choose a weapon, it didn't specify when so he can remain silent for hours and it'll still not force him to enter the first Phase .

If this thing was really artificially made, then its creator surely would not miss this loophole but then, did he purposely let it be? So many questions about this ARK were unanswered inside of Arthur's mind but for now, he put them all to the back of his head and focused on the urgent matter, which was this inexplicable surge of power .

He possessed the corpses earlier today and he did indeed feel his body strengthening but although this feeling was a bit similar, it was too intense, especially the pain .

Maybe it's because he didn't activate the pain immunity but when he activated it, nothing happened, it's as if he never did a thing! Which is why he could only lay on the ground and groan for a bit before entering the ARK .

First, he thought his body automatically evolved to the Divine Realm but that possibility is rather meager and it was soon rejected when he opened his status Window and saw his himself being at the peak of the Immortal Realm .

. . .

One hour was wasted wracking his head over all the possibilities of this sudden trigger but he couldn't come up with a good guess or even a logical theory . It couldn't be an enemy attack, neither could it be a soul attack as it was clearly happening around or inside his Dantian .

Sitting cross-legged and frowning from time to time, Arthur kept thinking for three straight hours before he decided to give up trying to solve the matter by himself . He searched through his memories and re-read the notes of Zodiak and the ancient books but he found nothing similar, which confused him even more .

With nothing to do, he decided to give it a try and ask the ARK .

"Do you know what's happening to me?"

Several seconds passed without hearing any answer and when he was going to sigh and continue searching, the robotic voice was talked

*Negative, unable to inspect the surroundings of the user 'Arthur' due to locked options . Possible inspection can be issued by the user 'Arthur'*

"Explain what's an 'inspection' . "

*Detailed inspection of the user's physical body . "

After pondering for a few seconds, Arthur nodded and said

"Execute the inspection . "

*Affirmative . Inspection beginning in 3 . . 2 . . 1*

Even with the countdown reached '0', Arthur felt nothing happening to him or around him, there was just the endless white space with only him there and the cubic object was still rotating and floating a couple of meters away from him .

He didn't rush things and waited for this 'inspection' to finish which it did just when he was about to ask when it'll be done .

*Inspection finished . Results will be displayed in 3 . . 2 . . 1

Result:

Bones : 206 (Undamaged) (condition 100%)

Muscles: 50,100,000,701 (17,417,579 Damaged) (Condition 70%)

Nerves: Undamaged .

Meridians: Undamaged .

Acupuncture points: 649 (6 Opened) (Undamaged)

Dantian: Excess energy, over burst . *

Arthur gawked as he saw the results, the last one gave him a shock and made him stare in astonishment for some time before he was able to recover .

"What do you mean by 'over burst'?"

*The energy inside the user 'Arthur' is running rampant, damaging the Dantian and invading unnecessary body parts . *

"Isn't there a way to stop it? Maybe try to forcefully absorb the Energy or push it out of the body?"

*Negative . Such things are not possible, by mathematical calculations, the over burst will only last six more seconds before the body of the user 'Arthur' is going to explode to 12 . 481 pieces . *

Arthur's face stiffened as he heard that, even hearing it made him sweat but what's more terrifying is albeit knowing the cause, he doesn't know how to solve it .

"Do you have any solutions . "

*Affirmative . Using a magnetic energy field can suppress the over burst, however, the user 'Arthur' will suffer two: consequences . One: Sealed body due to the evolution of the physical body . Two: Physical seals limiting the movement of the user 'Arthur' . *

Without even thinking about it, Arthur spouted

"Just do it!"