Once Human, Now a Parasite

"Please do remember that this is a friendly competition so fatal attacks on already incapacitated opponents is strictly prohibited. Feel free to go all out but… ehm, within the limits, yes?"

Arthur was met with casual nods or silence, which he didn't particularly mind. Most, if not all of the present guardians have lived for a long time so the absence of the excitement emitting from their young pupils is to be expected, more or less.

After adding a few more words and explaining simple things, Arthur left the eight guardians and rejoined with Lucy. She was done talking with Shu Ru, Rosea, and co, and it was finally time for the trial to begin.

Unlike the previous trials, Arthur will take Gutcha's place as a host. If there needs to be an interference mid-trial, Gutcha won't be able to stop the guardians. While it's true that the Pigolo, thanks to the seed of Dark Magic, can compete with Overgods albeit only being a God-Monarch, he still has not enough strength to completely subdue the participating guardians, especially those at the Exalted God Realm.

Including Lucy MoonStar, there were nine guardians who wished to partake in the last trials; Halone, the Ageless Elven Maiden of the Katrisan Grand Forest, Buolong of the Blossom Merchant Company, Veia of the Holy Dominion, Rasnod Ak Dark Blaze Patriarch of the Dark Blaze Sect, Lakandro The Serpentine Patriarch of the Eternal Rouge Sect, Dan of Green-Leaf, Celina, Mother of all Mermaids, and the one of the 72th demons of Hell, The Blood Duke, Xavier Landres.

While not all guardians joined the competitions, those who did were renowned across the multiverse. Whether it's Ageless Elvan Maiden, who was basically like a God to all the Elven Race, or the notorious Blood Duke, who had actually managed to trick Arthur's eyes and fool the system.

Arthur was able to figure out the man's identity only thanks to Isadore, who was fairly knowledgeable about the 72 Demons. Now that the truth was spilt, Arthur paid more attention to the tall and stoic-faced red-haired demon.

Unlike his reputation, the demon behaved like a common noble, elegant and slightly arrogant. He wore a thick black furred coat and an expensive attire, which wasn't suitable for combat.

Even Arthur, who hasn't paid any heed to their warfare, which had been ongoing for hundreds of thousands of years, had heard of Solomon, the strongest living demon. It was documented, as well as rumored, that Solomon had a power equal if not stronger than the Mythical Beings, making his prowess equal to the ancient and Creation Gods. Then again, one needs to experience Solomon's prowess firsthand to ascertain said rumors.

"I can't sense his aura at all."

Lucy, who learnt of Xavier's identity, tried to probe the demon but came out empty-handed, but that didn't discourage her. Amongst the eight soon-to-be her opponents, only Xavier and Halone could prove to be a challenge. Furthermore, as she had been resting for quite a while, Lucy had been itching to fight a strong opponent for a while, which was also why she replaced Arthur as one of the participating guardians.

After giving his wife a warm hug, Arthur wished her good luck and, soon, the two of them teleported to the rising plateau, in which the new participants were waiting.

"Let us begin."

Arthur's voice reverberated across the city, igniting the excitement of the chit chatting crowd and grabbing their attention.

The parasite warned the guardians not to resist then, with a swift snap of his fingers, he teleported them all to a vast and flat green plain with massive red circles engraved on the grass.

"This trial is simple; Capture the flying flags, take them to their respective bases and defend them until the timer runs out. Basically, it's a battle royale."

None of the guardians questioned Arthur's words or objected to the rules. Some curiously inspected the green plains whereas others, like Rasnod, were giving him a piercing glare.

The first timer was merely two minutes, in which the guardians readied and distanced themselves. Their auras burst forth, flattening the fluttering grass and distorting the space. This artificial world created by Arthur was clearly not strong enough to contain their combined aura, which caused a chain of spatial tears to appear all over the place.

Not all of the old participants were of the same universe, therefore, accurately measuring their strength was a bit difficult than usual. Nevertheless, they could be categorized into two groups; Those who have, more or less, the same power as an Overgod, and those who were equal to Exalted Gods.

Lucy, Xavier, Halone, Celina, and Rasnod, belonged to the latter, which means the rest were weaker, both in terms of purity of Nether Energy, cultivation, and overall physical and mental powers. However, a higher cultivation does not necessarily mean an ȧssured victory, and Lucy was the living example of that. Back when she was an Overgod, she was still able to contend and even defeat Exalted Gods and the System's advanced combat robots.

With a distance of a hundred or so between each of them, the timer hit zero, at last, and the aforementioned floating flags appeared all over the spacious plains.

In total, there were five circles and five flags, each flag with a unique beast symbol. Six of the nine participants shot in the air, charging right at the closest flags. The remaining three, however, stood motionless.

Lucy, Xavier, and Halone did not budge. The Elven Maiden was sweetly smiling, her hands crossed, seemingly calm and unperturbed by the urgency of the situation. Meanwhile, Xavier was intensely staring at Lucy, though his eyes lacked any kind of expected hostility.

Even Lucy was slightly surprised to see him act as such. He had an unreadable expression, which did not match the suffocating pressure and the twirling red aura around him.

'First, I should pay her back for what she's done to my pupil.'

As she wasn't interested in either Xavier nor Halone, Lucy shifted her attention to Veia, the quiet girl from the Holy Dominion. By now, she had fully become an Overgod, though her Nether Energy was extremely unstable, so much that her Holy Magic was affected by it.

Very much like her husband, Lucy was a vengeful person and she never forgets grudges. Although Veia did what she did to ȧssure her victory, that did not mean Lucy was happy with the result.

Although it may have been unintentional, or simply her normal attitude, Lucy still did not like the way Veia behaved. She was silent but behind her mask of purity there definitely was subtle hints of arrogance. And even if it were not the case, Lucy would have gone after Veia purely due to the fact that she had defeated Rosea, condescending as it may sound.

As Veia and Buolong were busy fighting each other close to a large white flag with a lion symbol, Lucy changed her stance and pressed her feet against the ground. She didn't channel her Nether Energy or ready her Devil Arm, she was purely relying on her physical stats, which should be more than enough.

Like a lightning bolt, the White Specter shot toward Veia, reaching her within a blink of an eye. The golden-haired girl was able to notice the bloodthirsty aura charging at her, however, she was too slow to dodge and only managed to forcefully spin her body and raise her small round shield just in time to meet Lucy's punch.

The shield did its job wonderfully and deflected most of the incoming damage, but Veia was still blown away, her body crashing into the grass and creating a massive crater. She swiftly stood up and started praying with her sword crossed near her ċhėst, but, unfortunately for her, she could not finish in time as Lucy was already upon her for the second time.

"Dear Gods, are ye freak or what?"

Buolong was shocked by Lucy's sudden interference. He wasted a couple of breaths staring at Lucy before snapping out of it and flying toward the flag, snatching it and instantly retreating to the back, where its designated circle was located.