Let Us Play

Arthur had briefly fought against the Black Priest and the former Deacon, both of which were strong opponents that should be preferably fought individually rather than together.

Nevertheless, his timely interception allowed him to snatch Feylord out of Parmenas' grasp.

Ever since Jonathan started his heist, Arthur sat in waiting and paid close attention to Joshua rather than the rest.

He had followed him for the past three days and ascertained that it was indeed this timid youth who had killed Verno and the rest of the spies from the Brutal Prince Order.

The feat of detecting Joshua's strange magic was definitely not easy.

In fact, Joshua had barely done anything worthy of suspicions for the last three days. Nevertheless Arthur was certain of his guess and kept watching him.

Eventually, when the bombs exploded, the youth did indeed leave his dorm room and sneak closer to Parmenas, Stella, and Frey.

In addition to granting him invisibility, the spell made Joshua soundless and incredibly hard to detect. However, thanks to his heightened natural senses and [Magick Sense], Arthur was able to recognize Mana tribulations and link it with Joshua.

It was quite a pleasant surprise that one of the members of the Circle of Damnation was close by, though it was hard to determine what he was capable of.

'Still, if he had indeed stolen the Alchemy Scripture and chose to stay in the academy, then it must mean he's after something else. Something in the Vault, most likely. If that's the case, then his magical and physical capabilities aren't that outstanding, at least not enough to sneak inside the Vault again and expect to get out unharmed.'

Now that Arthur had seen Joshua chase after Feylord, then it was apparent that he wanted the Phoenix Feather too.

Basically, he waited for Jonathan to do the heist and for the Phoenix Feather to get stolen, which would allow him, in turn, to get it from the Deacon.

'It's safe to assume he's stronger than Parmenas. If it comes down to it, I'll just kill him rather than get seriously injured or lose Feylord.'

Arthur wanted to capture Joshua alive to question him about his organization, but such a feat was difficult, if not impossible, given the circumstances.

Then again, Parmenas and Joshua were neither friends nor allies, so it was a battle with all three against each other.

Arthur used his superior speed to gain some distance and move Feylord to a safer spot, outside of the pursuers' range.

The mist rose in the air and headed toward the South-western coast, leaving the parasite alone inside an open circular field.

Barely twenty seconds later, The Black Priest and the Deacon came from opposite directions.

Seeing their wary expressions and how they didn't attack immediately, the parasite chuckled, his eyes coldly sweeping across the two of them.

"Gentlemen, let's play!"

The mist returned again, swirling like a tornado as it encompassed the open field. Parmenas cast a protective barrier then let out a resplendent white light, and Joshua cast a floating black-colored magical circle that shot out small blasts of Darkness.

The mist was unable to get close to the two of them, but icicles whistled from within them, directed at the Black Priest.

The deacon saw a thin and yellow-ish barrier resembling a wall fly straight at him with outrageous speed, so he pointed his staff at it and cast 'Holy Spear'.

The Sanguis Barrier was stopped then cracked from the center, however, before it could crumble, Arthur reinforced it and summoned it back to his side just in time to block the Darkness unleashed by Joshua.

A vortex rose to the air and sucked the Holy Magic of the deacon before releasing long and thick tentacles that slithered like snakes and hammered on Parmenas.

"O'Light Mother, Goddess of Light Eternal, grant me your strength!"

The blessing was in the form of a pillar of majestic light that descended from the darkened sky and enveloped its recipient.

It dispersed all of [Mist of Decay] and obliterated the black vortex and the tentacles wriggling from within it.

Shiny orbs appeared in front of Parmenas, and with his command, they shot out continuous laser beams at his two opponents.

The Parasite used [Enhanced Spell] then [Sanguis Barrier], which was enough to protect him. As for Joshua, he wasn't as lucky or reactive, his body, which had regenerated after getting hit by Arthur's icicle earlier, was struck by Holy Magic was sent flying to the back.

While the Black Priest was temporarily 'incapacitated', Parmenas shifted his attention to the parasite and bombarded him with Holy Magic.

The barrier, which was arched and enveloping Arthur, shattered like glass. The blinding and unstoppable magic of the Deacon was like a ravaging tsunami that cascaded on the parasite, flattening him to the ground.

Two of his limbs were broken and crushed and there was a large hole on his torso. Only when he saw the state of the enemy did the Deacon stop his torrent of spells.

However, his face changed when he saw the new teacher stand back as if nothing happened.

"Is that all you've got?"

With his face disfigured due to Holy Magic, Arthur grinned as a spiraling green mist enveloped his body. He shot toward Parmenas and slashed with a misty scythe, but his attack was blocked by a triangular golden shield overflowing with a beautiful radiance.

Parmenas waved his staff and launched projectiles of light only for them to vanish along with his shield.

[Enhanced Spell]

[Wither Blast]

The formless and colorless magic cast by the parasite seemed to devour the Holy Magic instantly before it made its way toward the real target.

Shocked, Parmenas pointed his wooden white staff at the wave of perturbing energy and chanted, "O'Light Mother, Goddess of Eternal Light, I beseech you to grant me your protection!"

The man's skin glowed and his robe fluttered as [Wither Blast] assaulted him, pushing him to the back and hit his stretched hand.

The staff was unscathed, but Parmenas lost two of his fingers and groaned in pain, cold sweat trickling down his pale face.

An unpleasant and bone-chilling cry followed right after, immobilizing the Deacon and allowing Arthur to use the scythe to pierce the man's side.

Even with his monstrous strength, he felt a bit of resistance due to the Holy Magic, but it wasn't enough to block everything.

Fresh blood gushed out as the scythe's sharp tip ripped into Parmenas' side and lifted him above the ground.

Arthur was about to dig deeper but his vision flashed red, warning him of the incoming danger.

While shrouding himself in [Mist of Decay] he retreated to the back and avoided a horrifying many-legged creature that lunged at him and Parmenas.

The abomination was made of jet-black darkness and had no eyes or face, it was a lump of meat with numerous thin legs and ball-shaped body.

Disoriented, wounded, and slightly exhausted, Parmenas' body crashed to the ground as the monstrosity hit his chest and shoulder, breaking the latter and almost ripping the former to shreds.

Fortunately, he managed to cast a protective spell and retaliate by letting out a blast of Holy Magic, which blew the beast away.

Standing a dozen meters away, Arthur looked around with [Magick Sense] active, confident that Joshua was hiding in the vicinity.

Surprisingly, Parmenas suddenly stopped casting spells and looked in a certain direction, where there was a noticeable fluctuation in Mana.

"Black Priest."

Now that he had been discovered, Joshua revealed himself, a cold smile on his face.

"I've had the same thought, actually."

The two didn't add any more words, but from the way they turned to look at Arthur, their clear intentions were clear.

They had deemed him the more threatening one so they joined sides in an instant, regardless of their differences.

The parasite soared upwards as the mist enveloped him, multiple white laser beams chasing after him.

A black vortex blocked his path, slowing his movements and stiffening his body, but a burst of flames was unleashed.

The Pyromancy skill obtained was unleashed with full force, causing flames to dance in the air as Holy Magic and Black Magic were destroying everything their way.

The Sanguis Barrier kept appearing and shattering as Arthur quickly moved from one place to the other, shooting fireballs and icicles.

Alas, Parmenas and Joshua were quite the deadly combo, especially since they were cooperating.

Within three minutes, Arthur had been hit five times and the last one extinguished [Mist of Decay] and made him fall to the ground. Khalil's body was damaged beyond repair with the legs gone, the neck scarred and half-cut and the arms completely gone.

"..."

"..."

The Black Priest and the Deacon were startled by their common enemy's appearance. It became plain that he wasn't a human, and no matter how much he was hit, he kept getting up, unhindered by the wounds.

Arthur grabbed hold of the head which was dangling to the right and 'fixed', a third of his head was covered in the ominous Darkness.

The skin around his jaw was gone and the teeth were broken, giving him a truly horrifying look.

"He's a parasite! Fuck!"

Joshua's face turned ugly and his eyes narrowed as he took out a large rusty bronze shield that was almost his size. He poured Mana into it, causing it to shake and cause the whole ground to be assaulted by a light earthquake.

Parmenas held his staff with both hands and was about to chant a prayer, however, the parasite was suddenly enveloped by a mist and vanished from their sight.

[Origin Return] was activated, taking Arthur to a safe spot hundreds of meters away from the obliterated open field, blackened by Darkness and riddled with holes due to Holy Magic.

For a couple of breaths, there was only a short silence as the two looked at each other.

They weren't able to sense the parasite and quickly figured out that he had escaped.

Joshua breathed a sigh of relief and Parmenas stopped the prayer.

It was then that there was an inaudible rustly, followed by the arrival of a large and looming shadow.

It was so fast that neither Parmenas nor the Black Priest could react.

"Ah!"

Something violent and monstrously strong hit Parmenas' back, sending him flying away like a cannonball. That single hit broke his spine and rendered him basically paralyzed.

One of the defensive artifact he was wearing took effect and started healing him.

Meanwhile, Joshua tightly held the shield and directed it toward the massive and creepy baboon leaping at him.

The white-furred baboon, standing at over 3 meters in height, moved with outrageous speed as it punched the bronze shield.

Joshua's artifact resisted the attack, but the shock wave made his body shudder and arms go numb. Before he could retaliate, the baboon used both of its hands to hold the shield and literally pull it from his grasp, then it swept its leg horizontally, hitting him with a frontal attack.

The baboon released a happy screech as it held the shield with one hand and swept its savage eyes across the two fallen humans.