"Ah! No!."

"Help me!"

There was a commotion in the town as a golden-haired figure walked with slow and steady steps even as he dragged an unconscious Zeke, with three spinning orbs revolving around him.

While he could not extend his attacks like a mage, the orbs were still able to blow every person in his immediate surroundings into smithereens.

Blood dyed his surroundings but Arlo's eyes didn't flinch for an instant. His eyes remained indifferent to the cries and pleas of his victims as he made his way to the City Lord's mansion leaving behind a trail of corpses and destruction.

Less than thirty minutes later, Arlo arrived at the grandest mansion in the city. The guards who were already aware of the situation but had still remained back to guard the city lord probably from his orders, charged at him.

Arlo felt a sudden reaction from the slime seal on his arm, and while he could block it, he still decided not to.

Anita appeared with a burst of blue light.

"You don't have to do this." Arlo's calm expression broke for the first time.

"I will always follow you!" Anita's cute voice contained the utmost resolve and Arlo could feel her determination from their connection together.

The lunging guards suddenly came to a stop as branches sprouted from the ground and bound them in place. What followed was a stream of flame covering a wide range, and before long the painful cries of the guards echoed in the area.

Arlo paused for a moment and took in the burning figures before him.

He soon got tired of waiting and walked past them as he dragged Zeke who had surprisingly still not awoken from his unconscious state.

It was apparent from his broken fingers and limbs that he had been subjected to brutal torture.

Arlo entered the grand hall of the mansion.

"Who-who are you?" stammered the white-haired old man who resembled the unconscious Zeke.

Arlo ignored him and looked at the two guards protecting him behind them.

As if hearing his thoughts, Anita who was resting on his head spoke:

"Dark arrows!"

Two arrows made of darkness materialized before Arlo and before the figures present in the room could even blink, they appeared before the two guards and burrowed through their helmets out of their brains.

*Thud!* Two lifeless figures fell to the ground.

"Ahh...ah...ahhhhhhh!" The old man fell on his rear as he shook from fear, "Please, don't kill me! Anything! I will give you anything you want!"

Arlo didn't look like a child in the eyes of the current City Lord instead he appeared as the grim reaper himself present in the flesh.

Arlo remained impassive to the continuous offer from the City lord and instead closed the distance between them as he dragged Zeke behind him. Only then did the city lord recognize his son.

"...Zeke?"

Seeing his Son's abnormal state, the City Lord wet himself. He almost couldn't recognize his own blood. That was how bad Zeke's condition was.

"Anything...money, I will give you all my money. I promise, no, I swear on my ancestors."

A trace of disgust finally flashed on Arlo's face, and before the City Lord could speak another word, he appeared before him with Zeke in tow.

Grabbing the old man by the neck, Arlo lifted him from the ground, creating an unusual sight.

However, the only ones present to witness it were the unconscious Zeke and the dead guards.

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He placed the City lord's hand on a table and commanded Anita, "Bind him!"

Anita did as instructed, as thick vines appeared to bind the city lord in place.

Seeing this, Arlo raised his leg above the elbow of the City Lord, whose face grew increasingly pale with each of his movements.

"Please, I beg you..."

Ignoring him, Arlo hurled his foot down, causing a spine-chilling crack to echo within the room.

"AHHHHHHH!"

The City lord released a heart-wrenching cry as his arm bent down at an unnatural angle. The fact that he couldn't even move an inch added more to his inner turmoil.

Uncaringly, Arlo took his arm aside and seized the other arm before placing it on the table. With a similar movement, he raised his leg causing the crying city lord to abruptly quiet down.

He looked at little Arlo with pleading eyes, his appearance a far cry from the him of a few minutes ago.

Arlo merely spared him a glance, before smashing his leg down once again.

"AHHHH!"

The City lord screamed with a hoarse voice before his eyes rolled to the back of his head. He couldn't bear the pain anymore.

"Just in time..." Arlo smiled as he shifted his eyes to the unconscious Zeke, whose still body flinched upon hearing his voice.

It seemed he had been awoken from his father's screams. And that was quite an admirable feat, as even the painful cries of the burning guards didn't wake him.

Arlo threw the fainted City lord to the side before walking to the unconscious Zeke.

Seeing that he couldn't act any longer, Zeke opened his eyes as he planned to beg for mercy once again, but every word about to leave his mouth was swallowed down his throat when he saw Arlo's innocent smile.

"Shall we continue?"

"...!"

.......

After an hour, Arlo left the City Lord's mansion with a clear face.

"About time..." he whispered as the world faded around him.

"I must have failed the test." He didn't know the criteria for passing the mental trial but even a fool would realize that he had failed horribly.

He couldn't even figure out the aim of the test and merely spent the time he had missed with his parents.

"But they were not real..." Arlo's voice drifted across the disappearing world, and a moment later, a strong pull tugged at him.

.....

"How long are we going to keep waiting?" Ella grumbled as they stood at the shore of the lake.

No one replied as they had already lost count of the number of times she had asked the same question.

"You can go if you want. I will wait for him." Tina who finally regained a high portion of her strength finally spoke. She and Miller had been quiet as they felt uncomfortable in the group. After all, Arlo was the only connection tying them together. Not to mention that Arianne, Ella, and Joe were not humans. And since they were too spent, they couldn't contribute much to killing the ant queen. But now, she believed she could help in any situation they faced from henceforth. After all, she was considerably strong.

In fact, aside from Joe who wasn't even tried in the first place, and Arianne who barely spent a minute in the trial due to her strong mental mind, Tina was the first to move across the lake to the second zone.

Arianne smiled toward her, causing Ella to harrumph. A light of jealousy flickered within her slightly drooping eyes. Ever since finding out that Tina and Miller were from Arlo's home world and even grew with him, Arianne and Joe had been trying to get close to them. But that didn't work well as the duo kept keeping their distance. Even though they understood that Arianne and Joe saved their lives, they still found it hard to be around supernatural creatures like them. And they couldn't be blamed as they grew up in a small village with no experience with the outside world.

"He is here!" Rose who was gazing intently into the misty lake suddenly spoke.

As if mirroring her words, a figure walked out of the misty lake with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

Before Arianne, Joe, Tina, and Miller could greet him, Ella who was clearly disgruntled spoke in a questioning tone:

"What took you so long? Don't tell me you are weak in mind?"

While she couldn't feel an ounce of mana from him, Ella was clear on Arlo's physical and battle prowess. But now that she could jab at him, she wouldn't hesitate to. She herself wasn't aware that Arlo was changing her. She usually found everything boring and was too lazy to care about things. But now, the sleepy look on her face was slowly fading away.

Arlo who had been thinking deeply about why he had passed the trial came to, upon hearing her question. With a light smile on his face, he apologized:

"Sorry. I must have kept you waiting for a while." As he said so, he finally walked out of the lake.

*Rumble!*

The second zone shook greatly. A few minutes passed during which the barrier preventing entry into the third zone disappeared. The mist receded and the major figures present at the outskirts could finally see the new zone in all its glory.

Back to the shore of the lake separating the first and second zone.

Arlo smiled wryly as the piercing gazes of his group tore into him. He could almost visualize the question marks on their heads. But what displeased him was he himself didn't understand what was happening.

First, it was the mind trial...

Now, this was also happening.

While the group was lost in each of their thoughts, a familiar voice suddenly resounded in Arlo's mind.

'Help me...please..be faster...'

The emotions within the sweet mesmerizing voice tugged at Arlo's calm heart.

Before Arlo could digest what happened, another change occurred.

For the first time since entering the secret realm, the pitch-black snake uncoiled itself from around Joe's neck before turning into a flash of light that flew into the sky.

Before long, a snake-like image several thousand meters long suddenly enveloped it. The massive snake image roared at the sky, stunning Arlo and the others. Only Rose whose eyes were spinning had a different reaction, as her face grew pale.

She wanted to shout, alas, she was a tad slower.

The roaring snake suddenly plunged from the sky before swallowing Arlo's group.