Chapter 661

Chapter 661
These invisible snakes belonged to Carpentine, they live in that sealed world and their only purpose is to track targets . Arthur was in possession of a thousand of them and as long as he dedicates all his power, even that thief can't escape from him . Sooner or later, that old man will show himself again inside the city and that's when the parasite will strike .
With all thousand invisible tiny snakes dispersed, each searching in an area, Arthur returned to Shen Shen's side and continued shopping . Although the king invited him to stay over, Arthur preferred the inn because it felt much safer than entering a tiger's den . Zaarae isn't with him yet and it's too early to trust the Fallen God Clan, then again, there's no need to purpose provoke them either .
…
In Ramel City, precisely in the slums, there was an area called the 'Garbage Drain', it's actually a sizable piece of land surrounded by a black and dirty wall over 10 meters in height . Around midnight of the same day, a short figure with brown greasy hair, a filthy thin body and smelly clothes was rummaging through the trash, trying to salvage something to eat .
Unbeknownst to him, there was an invisible snake lurking next to him, it silently hissed at him and projected its sight to its owner, Arthur . The distance between the inn and the slums was no less than 10 kilometers but Arthur's space magic allowed him instantaneously cross that distance . He was like a ghost, appearing behind the boy and stretching his hand, which was covered in a mass of ominous darkness .
The boy's face paled as he raised his hand, seemingly wanting to defend himself . He didn't look threatening and appraisal indicated that the kid was a mortal but Arthur was sure of his instincts, which is why he showed no hesitation .
Just when his hand was about to strike the boy, the latter vanished, leaving a blurry afterimages as he dashed away . Unfortunately for him, Arthur already prepared himself for this, ten defeaning thunderbolts descended from the night sky, hitting the area around Arthur in a circular manner .
He didn't know which way the boy will escape toward so he aimed at all directions and it worked, thankfully . The thunderbolt, which was as thick as an adult, descended upon the thin boy, who had an astonished expression as he retrieved a silver sword less than a meter in length, and swung it at the thunderbolt .
Quite surprisingly, the white godly thunderbolt was deflected but allowed Arthur to creep on the boy . For the first time since he acquired it, Arthur used [Thought and Effect], causing the boy's body to float in the air then violently smash into the ground . Loud sounds of breaking bones and rupturing muscles could be heard as the small figure coughed blood and glared at Arthur .
A monstrous force was pressing down on the boy, whose face was plastered on the ground, unable to move . The enhanced Telekinesis and the Quad-Spirit's gravity rendered the thief unable to lift a finger, much less escape, nevertheless, after a few seconds, he seemed to be relaxed .
"How did you know it was me?"
"…"
Arthur didn't reply as he used Telekinesis again, forcing the thief's storage ring out of his finger and equipping it . He glanced at the immobilized boy before coldly snorting and raising his hand and clenching it .
A suffocating and overwhelming force entered the thief's body, affecting his blood circulation and stagnating his Mana flow, rendering him unable to use his skills .
"I don't care who you are, just die . "
Arthur didn't want to talk with him or know how he tricked him . He's an enemy, someone who has to be killed, that's all that matters . Unfortunately, he wasn't able to finish it as the boy abruptly turned into black dust and no matter how much he looked around, he found no traces of him .
"Master, it's a Dimensional stone . "
"What? I thought it needs to be manually activated and what's with this black ash?"
"The one he just used belongs to the System . It's modified in a way that it auto-activates when the player is near-death . Actually, a lot of high-leveled players use it . "
"Is there any way to negate it?"
"If timed perfectly, Master's Dark or Red Rizaki should cancel its spatial transportation . A Void Heavenly Arrow can intercept it too . There's also Carpentine unique ability but master needs to try it first . "
Arthur looked at the large garbage dump before vanishing . It mattered not now that he escaped, the thief will come back reclaim his ring and that will be the time he dies . Arthur heavily injured him and even if he's in possession of miraculous healing potions, he'll still need time to recover . Moreover, Arthur didn't even go all-out, he just used Telekinesis, which became one of his strongest offensive powers thanks to Zaarae's 'blessing' .
Back in the inn, Fariya took one room for herself while Shen Shen stayed with Arthur . The little girl was sound asleep, she didn't even notice Arthur's brief disappearance .
As he appeared next to the blue-haired girl, Arthur chuckled and caressed her head for a while before checking the contents of the thief's storage .
'This…'
He sucked a deep breath, feeling genuine shocked . Even Zodiak, who has countless treasures in his storage, paled in comparison to what this thief had . There were all kinds of treasures, whether it's swords, sabers, armors, gloves, boots, hats, masks, potions, poisons, jewelry . Most seemed to belong to the system but some originated from the Cloud Sea Universe too .
There was also a staggering amount of Top Red Spirit Stones . Arthur thought for a moment before separating the useful things from the useless ones, then he put the ring in Shen Shen's finger .
Now, the thief's storage contained a few things and even, by some fluke, he manages to claim it back, he'll be very disappointed .
********
Evening of the next day .
-
"Empress, do you know what this is?"
The Monkey King crossed his arms and looked at the strange sight in front of him . It was a hole that had a width of fifty to sixty meters but what was strange about it was the mud-like puddle moving on its own and the creepy faces on its surface, they were looking back at the mythical being and the Empress . They continuously shrieked as if they wanted to get out, it was truly a bone-chilling sight .
Zaarae frowned, her eyes emitted a purple light which pierced the mud but did nothing .
"I can't say I do . "
She got closer to the large puddle and the faces became louder and more restless . When she was within twenty meters of the hole, one of the faces shot up at her, opening its mouth wide . However, before it reached her, a golden beam struck it and turned it into falling dirt .
"Please be careful, Empress . Not all of them are powerful but two months ago, something more powerful attacked and almost dragged me inside . "
"Two months? When did you discover this?"
"I passed by it when I was heading to the capital . It was about seven months ago and, apparently, it's getting bigger . When I first saw it, it was smaller than my head . "
"This is not a simple mutation or a beast . " She looked at the land surrounding the hole but apart from barren earth, there was nothing to comment on . The puddle of mud absorbed the golden sand and was expanding size, moreover, those hideous faces were giving her the creeps .
Never had she seen something like this, something that made her, one of the Twelve, feel threatened .
"Does anyone else know about this?"
"No, no one . "
Zaarae looked at the puddle for the third time before taking out a small piece of blackened slimy skin and burned it using strange green flames . The resulting smoke rose into the air and spun in a circle, quickly transforming into a whirlpool . This was an emergency signal meant for another one of the Twelve, one who's more knowledgeable than Zaarae and is close to her . He was the Black Devil, Timos .
The Empress was just about to go back to the capital with Sun Wukong only for both of them to hear a frightening dragon cry that resounded across half of the Ramel Kingdom, it was so powerful that it caused the land to shake and the sand to rise into the air . It was soon followed by a force wave which enraged the winds and cracked the earth .
"Arthur?"
Zaarae wasn't as strong as before, nevertheless, as soon as she heard that dragonic shout, her form distorted and she appeared above the capital city of Ramel in a split second . The Monkey King wasn't able to replicate her teleportation so he had to run all the way back here, which may take some time .
The moment the Empress appeared, she saw a ginormous inky black dragon dominating the capital's sky . Its size was mind-numbing as it bit one of the kingdom's protectors, turning it into something akin to shattered glass . The city right under the dragon was turned into nothing but absolute devastation . The dragon showed no hesitation as it razed everything in its way, not even the protectors were able to do anything .
************
"Hey, Shen Shen, are you alright?"
The short girl with bulging chest worriedly asked her leader, the ruler of the Water Region . She was the only person allowed to call the Empress by her real name, which was childish but the woman decided to keep nonetheless .
"It's nothing . "
The tall blue-haired woman waved her hand and told the girl to leave her alone for a while . As she was left alone, the woman caressed a beautiful pendant hanging on her neck, her mind drifting to the clouds . There were many reasons about her recent actions, one of them was to find out about her origins . She was sure her childhood memories were fabricated… they didn't seem real and she was sure the answer was in the encrypted book she found in the past .
"Vyncent… Vyncent, I know that name, I'm sure of it!"
No matter how hard she tried to remember, she couldn't . Ever since she cooperated with that Silver Dragon called Yamak, the whole situation became more complicated and incomprehensible . That boy called Jackob and that small piece of land disappeared so abruptly and further investigation led to nothing but more confusion .
She thought about visiting the Death Region again but the probability of reaching the manor a second time, especially without a guide, is close to non-existent .
…
Under the majestic crystalline blue castle inhabited by the Water Empress, there was a sacred area accessible only by the ruler of the region . Inside this place, which was exquisitely decorated and filled with shiny white crystals, there was a corpse that was twice as big as a normal human, it was frozen and suspended mid-air .
The body was that of a female with fair facial features and a graceful body . She was the first ruler of the Water Region and a person the current Empress deeply respected .
The blue-haired woman knelt before the frozen body and silently prayed, hoping to get some answers soon . The 'founder' of this region had many titles but the most common one was 'The Queen of Ice', however, very few knew her real name, Sonia .