Invigoration. Power. Arthur used ‘Last Possession’ and recovered from all physical and mental fatigue.

The Cydian Knight Ant, covered in bronze and silvery carapace-like armor, looked like a Demon from hell, especially with its double-horned dark-brown head.

Its two eyes, which were two horizontal slits, shone with a purple light as they focused on the Fire Spirit.

[Exoskeleton Defense]

[Miscellaneous Skills: Cydian Heritage(Passive)]

[Miscellaneous Skills: Bone Toughness(Passive)]

[Multi-Resistance: Fire]

[Law of Perception]

[Law of Resilience]

[Power Attack]

Without wasting a second, the Parasite swung the dark claw at the enemy, but the Fire Spirit twisted unnaturally and managed to avoid the ominous Dark-aspected energy.

Right after, it unleashed a flaming blast that blew Arthur backwards. It even followed by throwing a massive fireball that crashed into him before he could get up.

Cackling hysterically, the Fire Spirit looked at its enemy only to see him swiftly get up, his body totally unscathed. Neither its flames nor the shock wave dealt any damage to his body.

More and more flames burst from it as Arthur’s body blurred for half a moment before rushing toward it at an unprecedented velocity.

By the time the Fire Spirit reacted, he was already upon it, thrusting the artifact right into its ghastly face.

The clash between the two resulted in a powerful shock wave that spread across all directions.

No longer playful or in control of the situation, the Fire Spirit hastily backed away while shooting the same kind of fire-aspected spells, however, they only acted as a momentary hindrance.

[Berserk]

A nightmarish cry came out of the Cydian Knight Ant as it leapt toward the rising Fire Spirit and thrust the claws with full force.

Thin and thread-like black lines shot upwards, ripping through the massive Fire Spirit and extinguishing some of its fire.

Simultaneously, Arthur felt the artifact suck energy from his own body at a rapidly dangerous rate. It was acting on its own, using its own user’s Mana to empower itself.

[Wither Touch]

In retaliation, he absorbed the energy back while tightening his hold over it. For a moment, it shook intensely, seemingly discontent about this, but it eventually calmed down.

Although he had succeeded in striking the target, the fight had just begun; With the roles reversed, Arthur proceeded to give chase and attack the Fire Spirit non-stop.

Any Fire bolts or Fireballs thrown at him were cleanly cut by the claw, and even when he was hit from a blind spot, he didn’t suffer any particularly heavy wounds.

Slowly but surely, the Fire Spirit kept getting hit once or twice by the artifact, which made its flaming weaker and dimmer.

In fact, were it not for the artifact, the parasite wouldn’t have been able to dominate the fight so easily.

‘Stop!’ He inwardly yelled as the artifact was back at it again, aggressively gorging upon his energy any time he was distracted.

Nearing its wits end, the Fire Spirit bellowed and then unleashed a devastating storm of fire.

Tornado imbued with dark-red flames appeared all around him, ravaging everything in their way and trapping him in the middle.

Eventually, they fused together and assaulted the parasite, flinging him in the air and then hitting him with several flaming spikes.

As he crashed into the ground, his carapace slightly cracked, the Fire Spirit dove down and opened its mouth.

Quickly, Arthur switched to Leonis’ body, which he almost never used in fights, and activated [Mist of Decay] and [Sanguis Barrier].

With the mist obfuscating him, he retreated out of the enemy’s range and then conjured a barrier before possessing the Cydian Knight Ant again.

[Cydian Glory(Active)(NEW SKILL)]

The armored monster flashed with a violet radiance as it jumped upwards, still making use of the mist to not be seen by the Fire Spirit.

Rather than stopping the artifact, Arthur let it absorb as much energy as it wanted as he descended upon the rear of the Fire Spirit while slashing diagonally.

Even though there was still a small distance separating the two of them, the result of his simple slash was a burst of darkness that cascaded onto the target.

The intangible body of the Fire Spirit was literally flattened on the ground before the Darkness Energy crept in like a hungry beast, extinguishing the dark-red flames.

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The parasite didn’t stop there, he pulled his right hand and thrust the artifact right into the enemy.

Its frightening and ear-piercing scream disoriented him, but he bore through it and dug the artifact deeper and deeper.

Only after a couple of seconds was he pushed back as the Fire Spirit, which had greatly decreased in size, let out a scared whimper and fled into the air.

The silhouette of the Cydian Ant zigzagged around as it kept itself on the ground while chasing after the airborne Fire Spirit. When it was right beneath it, it leapt directly upwards.

Holding a sword in his left hand, Arthur used [Sword Blast], aiming not at the Fire Spirit but in front of it.

This simple tactic worked as the sentient monstrosity instinctively avoided the silvery light by momentarily halting its mad retreat.

This left it exposed and stationary, therefore allowing Arthur to use the artifact one last time. He stabbed the empowered and long claws into the flames, but rather than seeing the black lines appear and extinguish the immaterial enemy, the claw did something unexpected.

An irresistible suction force, a bit similar to [Wither Touch], emanated from the artifact, pulling the now human-sized Fire Spirit into it.

Surprised, Arthur watched the artifact completely absorb the Fire Spirit and then let out a demonic sound that seemed to showcase its satisfaction.

It no longer tried to devour his energy, but he didn’t want to risk it so he let go of it.

Moments of eerie silence passed as he looked at the claws lying on the ground. It didn’t explode, move on its own, or try anything dangerous.

As he was lost in thought, an explosive sound came from West of Blackcrest.

…

The Viscount’s loyal knight, Veronica, looked at the slightly burnt fingers then at the wounded Duke.

Despite his condition, he still managed to resist her attacks and even retaliate.

Apart from him, there were a dozen of remaining Treants, though they were all motionless and seemingly unresponsive.

A bit behind her, Gerard and Hector, respectively the Seat of Power and the Seat of Protection, were incapacitated and unconscious. They had both been defeated by her, a task that wasn’t that difficult since they were already exhausted and wounded.

As for their armies, Gerard’s army managed to flee to the North whereas Hector’s was trapped in thin yet indestructible magical walls.

The walls were not Veronica’s doing but a long-ranged containment spell sent from Hollow Creek.

Terden Sidus was Veronica’s last target. The other three Seats were captured, as per her Lord’s orders.

“Surrender, Lord Sidus.”

Veronica raised her sword and coldly looked at the Duke, who was breathing heavily and wiping the blood leaking from his lips.

He kept glancing at the devastated city then at the Treants, but there was no response from Halric.

The Fire Spirit or the Demon Lord were nowhere to be seen, which meant the danger had been fended off, fortunately.

Hearing no response, Veronica’s eyes narrowed; She leaned forward then shot toward him, about to finish this once and for all.

However, when she crossed half the distance, a figure appeared from nowhere and attacked her.

She raised her blade to attack, but the force behind the attack pushed her back and made her arms feel extremely numb.

[Berserk]

[Power Attack]

The monster moved faster than her, its leg sweeping upwards and striking her chest. Her armor resisted the powerful blunt attack, but the enemy appeared on her flank and punched.

All Veronica could do was twist her body and minimize the damage, but even then, her dominant arm was hit, resulting in a crisp cracking sound.

While letting out a soft groan of pain, she held her sword in the other hand and hastily jumped back.

Although the monster’s appearance was unfamiliar, the knight knew it was the parasite.

She couldn’t recognize what type of monster he was possessing, but their brief exchange cleared displayed the disparity in strength.

Admittedly, she still had some fight in her and, if she went all-in, there was a possibility of winning.

The Parasite wasn’t capable of talking, but Veronica knew his stance when she saw him stand in front of the Duke.

“My Lord needs the Duke. I will not kill him.”

In response, Arthur returned to Leonis’ body and smiled at her.

“Well, he can’t have him.”

“I-I’m here…. What did I miss?!”

Two people rushed from the North. Emil Red and Melia, who were both uninjured.

The Painter stopped a bit behind the Duke and warily looked at Veronica.

“I-I’m here…. What did I miss?!”

“You’ve already got quite the harvest, no?” Arthur casually motioned to Hector’s trapped army. Everyone trapped inside those walls was unconscious, mysteriously enough.

“Sir Sanguis, Blackcrest is destroyed. It is better to hand over the Duke to us.”

Arthur sighed and looked at the pale-faced Terden. The bearded man could barely remain on his feet; He had an expression of sorrow and anger, his fists clenched and teeth gritted.

“Did I not have an agreement with the Viscount? He wanted an item, yes?”

Veronica frowned but didn’t respond.

“I’ll bring it to him, so… leave.”

After a brief deliberation, the knight put away her blade and politely bowed her head.

With loud footsteps, she approached the two fallen Seats and lifted their bodies before walking away.

Strangely, she ignored the trapped soldiers and soon disappeared into the forest.

A bout of silence flowed between the Parasite and the Duke before the latter weakly asked,

“Why?”

“Why what? Why I saved you?”

“...”

“I’m not as bad of a person as you perceive me to be, Duke.”

Arthur softly smiled at the Duke before glancing at Emil and Melia.

“It’s finally done!”

The man raised his hand and celebrated the victory, after which he looked at Terden.

“It’s been an honor to fight with the Seat of War. Now, I have personal business to take care of. Melia! Want to come with?”

The gloomy woman solemnly shook her head.

“Alright.”

Emil extended his hand and quickly chanted a spell, and after a couple of breaths, he was surrounded by a flash of light and disappeared.

Melia approached the Duke and supported him.

“I expect to get paid a lot for this, okay?”

The Duke tried to say something but, at last, all strength left his body and he fell unconscious.

“Hey, help me out!”

Arthur sighed and used [Mist of Decay] to carry both of them.

The green mist spun around as it rose in the air and glided toward Blackcrest, or at least what was left of it.

By saving the Duke, Arthur wanted to gain his favor and ensure that Halric tried his best to heal Evelyn. After all, he noticed how close Terden and Halric had been. Furthermore, since Chris and the rest were safe, he saw no reason not to interfere.

After all, with the Cydian Knight Ant body, he was confident in confronting Veronica and even escaping if things went downhill.