Chapter 696

The glow emanating from Arthur's chest became brighter and brighter then it took the shape of the same MoonStar he and Lucy used outside of the Red Tower.

Arthur, who's been unconscious for some time, finally opened his eyes wide. His right eye glowed with a blue light while his left one was a mix of blue, red, and grey.

Slowly but surely, his body floated in the air, the winds raging around him became calmer but a lot deadlier. Their whistling totally quietened down but their range dramatically increased, reaching thousands of kilometers away.

All of a sudden, Arthur's figure vanished and almost instantly reappeared next to Lucy, who was busy disposing of the remaining robot fighters.

"I'm sorry for arriving so late."

The cold expression he constantly had on his face was no longer present and, instead, a sweet smile blossomed on his usually stiff face. He grasped her delicate and small hand and brought her closer to him.

"I remember now… I remember everything."

His voice cracked a bit as he felt ashamed about what he did to her and how he treated her. Of course, he knew that she didn't blame him but that doesn't make his past actions right, nevertheless, it's all back to normal now.

Lucy, who's both startled and happy about his arrival, hugged him back but furrowed her brows about seeing the golden glow emitting from his heart. She also noticed how quiet the surroundings became, they became dead silent, forcing her to look around only to see the empty space and countless rubbles, which were actually the remains of the spaceships she demolished.

Apparently, the gales circling Arthur cut down everything, whether it's the tough materials of the ship or the still resisting robots. Everything just ended so quickly and, fortunately, both of them were safe and sound.

However, this only lasted for a brief period, in which the two couples just embraced each other. Just like her husband, Lucy's chest now glowed with a golden radiance and she started feeling a warm and cozy heat enveloping her heart.

The Soul Bind they re-did recently was being subjected to a big and good change. If you look at their consciousness, you would see the two connected by a thick black thread made of condensed Dark Magic but, now, it was different.

The thread was now a mix of gold and blue and the Dark Magic took the form of a black phoenix which wrapped its incredibly lengthy wings. Half of the beast lived inside Arthur while the other lived inside Lucy. Moreover, the strange yet powerful MoonStar was present in both of them, hanging in their lively consciousness, providing their with a new type of energy never seen before.

"It has not ended yet."

Lucy tightly held his hand while standing next to him, both gazing at two massive spaceships making their ways towards them. The spaceships were identical to the destroyed one and they had their cannons prepared and aimed at the couple, which looked smaller than ants in comparison.

"You don't need to do anything. Just watch."

Arthur raised his hand and pulled down Makaze, which instantly went back to its original form but with a new and eye-catching addition. A black phoenix and a black dragon were wrapped around its now dark green handle and the black flames, which could usually be seen around its sharp edges, was no longer present.

Although Makaze was very compatible with Dark Magic, it doesn't mean that it works best with it. Evil Wind was mainly created using Ventus' Gales, which means that the Dark Blade's speciality is Wind Magic, something Arthur rarely used in the past due to it being much weaker than his other attributes.

Now, however, it's different, perhaps even the opposite. With Makaze completed and Ventus' soul fully integrated into the blade, Arthur's Wind Magic is stronger than everything else. The only thing that could probably rival it is the MoonStar which has to be used by the couple at the same time.

The parasite didn't even move, he just held Evil Wind and raised it then slashed down. It was a simple and very slow movement, which didn't cause devastation, at first.

In fact, nothing happened for the couple of the seconds after the slash but, the still far away spaceships didn't remain unscathed. Usually, the amount of Wind Magic outside of plans, stars, and worlds, is meager if not non-existent but now was not the case as a truly enormous tornado appeared and cut down the two spaceships in a matter of seconds.

These two massive machines were like two helpless leaves being carried by the wind. They crashed into each other then were cut down to pieces, literally. By the time Arthur put down his hand, the spaceships were blown far away and the couple were left alone.

"So what do we-"

Lucy wasn't able to finish talking as Arthur planted a light kiss on her lips before wrapping his arm around her waist. By the time she came back to her senses, the two were far away from their previous location. Arthur used Space Magic to open a Spatial Tunnel and teleport to a peaceful but desolate star.

"A moment, please."

Arthur let go of her then took two steps forward before letting go of Makaze, which floated vertically in front of him. Wind whistled and after three breaths, an illusory silhouette with blurry facial features made its appearance.

This was the departed Ventus Malum, he stared at Arthur for an inordinate amount of time before he chuckled and congratulated him.

"I hope, no, I knew that you will succeed. Love is truly a fascinating thing. With my gales at your side, you need not fear anything from now on, for where the wind blows, you will surely follow."

Arthur respectfully bowed his head and replied, "Thank you."

"No need to thank me. It wasn't me who has chosen you but Makaze."

In essence, Ventus and Makaze are the same entity but throughout the years, the Dark Blade became sentient and created its own living soul.

"You two still have a long road ahead of you but don't ever let go of each other's hand. That's all I'm going to say."

Once he finished his piece, the silhouette fused back with Makaze and the blade returned to its sheath after vibrating twice.

***********

Unbeknownst to the couple, there was someone watching everything that happened without interfering. The creature was smaller than a human and was black in one side and white in the other.

"Now that you have the strength to defend yourself, what will be your first step?"

....

The main Arthur and the two clones agreed to meet four months after their separation but retrieving Evil Wind took less time than expected. Nonetheless, with Astria being attacked by the angels, Arthur didn't opt to wait and decided to directly head back to Astria along with Lucy.

With his newfound powers and Makaze back in his possession, he could contribute a lot, especially now that Lucy is accompanying him, after all, two pairs of hands are better than one.

After resting for half a day, Arthur and Lucy wanted to go back to Astria but, surprisingly, the parasite wasn't able to locate the secluded world. He already had the coordinates for it but when he tried creating a Spatial Tunnel, it led to naught but nothingness.

As an alternative, they went back to Earth and tried teleporting to Astria but it didn't work either, confusing the two.

Furthermore, the popular VRMMO Hell Gate apparently caused a huge ruckus on Earth. The virus which caused a lot of people to disappear was a devastating blow to the planet but the mysteries around this game made its founding company, LobiSoft, go bankrupt and its CEO disappear all of a sudden.

When Arthur tried investigating the matter, he was only able to find a few useless clues.

"How about going through Green-Leaf? Isn't there an unstable portal leading to Astria somewhere in the Pigolo Tribe? The one you used with Gutcha."

"We could try that but I suspect that Astria was transported to another place."

"Transported? By whom and for what reason?"

"I'm not too sure. Maybe my clone wanted to trick the angels or something happened. Anyway, it's no longer where it used to be, that's for sure, and without its coordinates, we can't reach it."

Currently, it has been a bit more than forty days since Arthur separated from his clones.

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