“W-who’s that?”

Charles covered his face and head, occasionally peeking at the flashing lights around him. Although he couldn’t get a good look, he was able to see that their savior was a somewhat tall figure.

“I don’t know but I can’t see her Level. We’re getting out of here, come on!”

Chris urged his companion before running opposite of where the fighting was.

The red mist, thankfully, obfuscated their position, though the two deadly machines weren’t focused on them.

Charles and Chris were only able to make a couple of steps before getting blown away by a blast.

The unconscious Lucy and Isabella were similarly thrown in the air before crashing into the ground.

Chris gritted his teeth and bore through the pain, his arm extending toward Isabella. When he activated his teleportation spell, it fortunately worked, but the distance travelled was no more than ten feet.

When he looked in the sky, he saw the red mist dispersing, finally revealing a tall woman wearing a regal black dress.

Unbeknownst to him, it was the Masked Queen, Marjory Na Xivia. Parts of her attire were burnt or cut, however, that didn’t stop her from fiercely attacking the hostile machines.

Their attacks were intrinsically simple, ranging from basic laser beams to diagonally slashes using their sharp limbs, nevertheless, their mobility and tenacity made them frightening.

Marjory was going all out, her Blood Magic expanding before cascading onto the machines. She continuously succeeded in pushing them away, but the damage they sustained was inconsequential.

In fact, they seemed to be gaining the upper-hand despite getting hit non-stop. Marjory was considered a demi-god by many, making her one of the strongest beings on Astria, so for her to be overwhelmed was a testament to the enemies’ prowess.

It was difficult to distinguish between the weaponized machines, but they weren’t all equal in power. Those sent here were of a higher ‘quality’ than the common ones, even if that fact was missable due to how similar they all looked.

Chris and Charles didn’t stop trying to distance themselves, but Marjory’s Blood Magic and the ceaseless magic explosions rendered them helpless, no different than leaves controlled by a strong wind.

“Fuck! This isn't the time! Damn!”

Feeling an irresistible itch, Chris started scratching his leg while cursing. Alas, the more he scratched, the itchier it became.

When he looked at Charles, he saw him groaning in pain and holding his head, which was bleeding. At this rate, even though the Masked Queen was fighting the enemies, they weren’t going to get out of here alive.

‘That frog told me to run this way! Is this because of her? What do I do?!’

Chris dragged Isabella closer to the other two and tried to shield them: Due to his lacking proficiency in magic, any barrier he conjured would be destroyed in an instant.

Still, Chris kept trying to protect everyone while watching the fight, which was getting more intense and chaotic.

Marjory was sustaining more wounds, but the blood that came out of her would turn into sharp projectiles that shot forward.

“Behind you!”

Seeing one of the machines circle behind the vampire with lightning-fast speed, Chris tried to warn her but it was too late.

The machine’s spike grew longer and impaled Marjory’s back. To make matters worse, the second enemy shot multiple beams, all of which hit the momentarily immobile target.

As the spikes were growing in size and thickness, seemingly trying to cut her body in pieces, Marjory became a red mist before reconstructing itself into a gigantic bat.

By the next second, the bat let out an ear-piercing scream that greatly affected the machines. Thereafter, it flapped its wings, creating a spinning gale that quickly transformed into a massive tornado made of thick green mist.

The two machines were caught inside of it, unable to stop the wind from sending them farther and farther.

Chris used this opportunity to physically touch Charles, Lucy, and Isabella before closing his eyes and concentrating.

‘All of my Mana… I want to get out of here. Send me away.’

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

He wasn’t hoping to use a magic spell as he knew it would be another failure. Instead, he remembered Aerin’s words, about how Chris was someone that defied Fate.

If he truly believed in something, he would be able to do it. As absurd as it sounded, Chris had to try this rather than sit there and wait for the machines to break free and attack them again.

Marjory, still in her bat-form, didn’t continue her assault. She flew closer to Chris and the rest only to abruptly stop then back away.

“Is that you, Christopher?”

Hearing an oddly familiar voice, Chris opened his eyes and looked around but saw no one.

“I’m here.”

The voice spoke again, originating from Arthur’s parasitic body. The minuscule body was inside an empty and closed bottle.

Chris saw the parasite engulfed in dark flames that destroyed the bottle.

“Arthur?”

Beyond shocked, Chris witnessed a formless and bone-chilling darkness explode in front of him before being replaced by the silhouette of a man.

“It really is you.”

As Chris looked at the dark-haired man in front of him, who looked exactly like Arthur did back in on Earth. Instead of feeling joy, Chris was suspicious, instinctively standing up and covering for Lucy and the rest.

He didn’t know what happened, but to see Arthur regain his original body, especially in current circumstances, was beyond strange, if not illogical altogether.

“I’m on Astria.” Stated Arthur while raising his head and staring at the enormous bat.

“And Eliminator is here.”

He glanced at the unconscious people, recognizing only Lucy.

“I think I get what’s going on.”

Arthur softly smiled and telepathically communicated with Marjory, who was dumbfounded.

“I take it you’re not the enemy. Let’s get rid of those two.”

Without getting a confirmation, Arthur jumped in the air, instantly transforming into a large griffin made of jet-black bones.

The griffin was twice the size of the bat, its wings letting out two distinct lights. One was grey-ish and had an aura of decay while the other was pure-white and accompanied by the essence of Life.

Confused as she was, Marjory didn’t object. The bat and the griffin, screaming in unison, charged at the two incoming machines, which were still a distance away.

The agape Chris covered his ears and the entire area was ravaged by a multitude of earth-shattering explosions.

The sky darkened and the uneven rocky land flattened as golden flames and a grey-ish mist spread everywhere, though they intentionally didn’t harm Chris and the rest.

Chris covered his ears and stood there until everything came to an end. The fight barely took a minute, and when he realized they were safe, Arthur was in his human front, standing in front of him.

He extended his left arm, letting out a vibrant light that healed everyone’s wounds.

“I never thought I’d see you again, Christopher. I’m really happy.”

“Y-you’re really Arthur?”

“Yes.” Arthur nodded, looking extremely calm, “But not the one you know.”

Their conversation was cut-short when Marjory landed nearby, her crimson eyes fixated on the Parasite.

“Who are you? You’re no normal Parasite.”

The Masked Queen maintained her distance, red mist slowly emanating from her body. Although they just joined forces, she knew that this Parasite was much stronger than her.

“I think my identity is irrelevant. I’ll be gone shortly.”

Sensing something, Arthur raised his hand, one of his eyes glowing with an azure light.

“Don’t. I don’t know you and I’m not here to fight you.” He paused for a bit as he looked Westward.

“A Vampire of your lineage is West from here, right? I suggest you hurry up. Eliminator is there and it’s not looking good.”

Marjory stared at him for a bit before her body vanished into a puff of mist.

“Where is the Arthur I know? What really happened?”

“Before I answer that, I need to take care of something.”

Arthur approached the wary Chris and crouched down, grabbing his leg.

“This is quite the…”

Almost instantly, a black crystal surged from the ground and targeted Arthur, though it wasn’t able to pierce through his clothes, much less his body.

“I’ve never seen a Parasite like this.”

“A Parasite? What?!”

“Ah, It’s not that a Parasite is possessing you, it’s more like… it is on you. Quite a sneaky and powerful one, at that. Don’t move.”

Dark flames came out of Arthur’s index, landing on Chris’ leg and revealing an invisible and pointy black crystal.

The crystal was melted on the spot, though part of it did succeed in going through Chris’ skin to hide and escape.

“Hmm… I’ll just have to trap it. You must find a way to get rid of it. The best option is to find a priest very well-versed in Purification Spells. Unfortunately, I can’t figure out what type of Parasite this is or what it does so you have to be careful.”

“The other Arthur has been experiencing hallucination. Is this the cause?”

“That’s not too much to go on, you know. However, it is a possibility.”

Arthur’s flames also went inside Chris’ leg, sealing the bit of crystal that managed to escape.

“Do you mind if I check everyone’s conditions?”

Chris hesitantly nodded, which prompted Arthur to carefully examine Charles, Lucy, and, lastly, Isabella.

“This girl is from Earth, yes? She has swallowed X’s orb. Unless she reaches a certain level of power, she won’t be able to take it out. He’ll come back for it, so if you encounter any type of Blue Devils, always keep in mind that X might be behind it. The same goes for any Tarions, which are a variation of Demons that reside in Hell.”

“O-Okay…”

“By the way, how is my relationship with Lucy? This Lucy, I mean.”

“Ehm…” Chris was still processing everything else that was said, so this unexpected question made him frown and stutter like a fool.

“Your reaction tells me we’re not lovers or married.”

Arthur let out a sigh before shrugging, “It’s fine. I was curious, is all. Maybe with you by his side, your Arthur will have a better time.”

He patted Chris’ shoulder and thanked him again before backing two steps and drawing a circle with all sorts of symbols inside of it.

“One last thing: Don’t go West. It’s extremely dangerous.”

“Wait! How come there’s two Arthurs? What’s going on? Are you like… from another time… thingy?”

“It’s a bit more complicated than that. I’m the stuck Arthur and He is the free Arthur. I never expected to meet you again, Chris, so, despite using me, I'm grateful for Leiu had done. Have a good life this time, okay? And good luck."

“...”-Chris

Arthur raised both hands and there, comically enough, started to move in a strange way. It was more like an intricate dance, one which he meticulously did in complete silence.

After a minute, Chris saw the pebbles rise in the air and the wind grew completely still. All color was robbed of his vision as ‘Arthur’ vanished into thin air.

The only thing that was left behind was the Parasite’s minuscule body.