Arius says, "Let's move carefully. Also, it seems Black Eye has moved quite far away from us. It appears he has traveled a great distance now and is no longer in this area where we are."
Clarice says, "Let's follow him then."
Arius says, "No, let him advance. We won't rush anything; we will move slowly. Meanwhile, tell me about what happened during the three years I was absent, for I know that a lot happened during my absence."
Clarice says, "Alright, my dear, I will tell you everything."
Above the Ten Realms, we see Karma seated on his throne, looking very annoyed, with the Master bowing before him.
Karma says, "Tell me, Master, hasn't the time come for us to attack World Zero? In truth, I am fed up with everything that is happening, and for a long time I have had it in my mind to eradicate all forms of life there and annex that world to our ranks. My eyes have been set on that world for millions of years."
The Master says, "My Lord, I certainly do not oppose your decision, but it is best to avoid that for now. If we decide to attack, we will suffer massive losses, because due to your immense power, that world you aspire to possess might be destroyed. Also, do not forget, my Lord, that the other three strong ones reside there. We might be able to bring down Dazai and Celes, but Barion is the strongest of them, and we will suffer greatly against him."
Karma says, "We will suffer? Ha! What nonsense is this? You will suffer, but as for me, I do not fear him. I will erase him like the others. However, it is best to listen to your words. But I have a bad feeling because we are not attacking. I don't know, I feel as if we are going to lose something soon. My intuition has never been wrong before."
The Master says, "My Lord, only good will happen, do not worry like this."
Karma says, "Let us hope so. But tell me now, is what I heard true—that Nahira's world suffered very severe damage?"
The Master says, "Yes, my Lord, the world was heavily damaged by eighty percent. It is clear that a fight took place between Lady Nahira and her sister, Miss Clarice, which led to all that happened."
Karma says, "A fight, huh? Truly strange. Well, I will go visit her now; I want to check on her condition."
The Master says, "As you wish, my Lord."
In World Zero, Izola arrives at the fortified castle, terrified and frightened, and finds Dazai and the rest sitting in the council room in complete silence.
Izola enters fearfully and says, "Did you succeed? Did you close the portal before he arrived?"
Dazai says, "We succeeded, my sister, we succeeded. We closed the portal."
Izola rejoices for a moment, but Dazai continues, saying, "We did not succeed in catching him, as he succeeded in his turn in entering and carving his path toward his objective, which will cause us endless disasters."
Izola's face turns pale, and she screams loudly, slamming her hands on the table, "Why didn't you stop him? The matter is extremely dangerous for him! How could you allow him to go alone? At least, why, my brother?"
He tells her with total coldness, "I told him, I tried to convince him, but he is stubborn." Then he shouts in her face, saying, "You fool! You should have convinced him from the beginning instead of making those ridiculous, useless attempts to get close to him! You should have changed his way of thinking, not encouraged him to pursue his cursed, infernal ideas!"
Izola begins to cry, shocked by what happened, as this is the first time in her life her brother has yelled at her. She leaves the place in tears.
Celes says to him, "You were a bit harsh on her."
He places his hands on his face, pressing against his eyes, and says, "I know, but this is only so she understands."
Arline says, "It's fine, leave her alone for a little while, because following her now will only make things worse."
Dazai says, "I really don't know what to do. All I ever wanted throughout my entire life and all these years was to keep her and her loved ones away from trouble and danger. I didn't want any of this to happen."
Celes says, "Dazai, if you really want to keep her out of danger, you just have to let her decide her own path, not pressure her."
Dazai says, "I know I was the cause of most of her life choices, but all of that was for her own good. But now I must do my best so she doesn't get hurt. At least I hope to hear some good news these days."
On the northern side of World Zero, Arius flies through the distorted space, which leans toward a black color mixed with red, bloody white, and lightning striking through the space, where the planets emit foul odors, the smell of blood, fire, and strange red steam. The system screen appears, prompting Arius to remove his mask now. They do so, and Arius says, "What is with you today, commanding me to do such silly things?"
Arius stands looking around and says, "Where am I going now?"
Words appear on the system screen telling him to keep walking forward, as he is on the edge of the northern side of this place.
Arius says, "After all this flying, I haven't moved far from my position? That is truly strange; the area of this place is massive. Regardless, I will find some planet here and see. Ah, that planet looks suitable indeed."
Arius heads toward the planet, which appeared to be a desert world, lands on it, and says, "Wow, the sky here is very red. I don't know what the story behind this world is, or why it isn't normal like the south, east, and west."
Arius moves slightly and finds a small town, deciding to head toward it. The system provides him with a coat to wear, and he enters a strange café. Upon entering, he finds people sitting who seem, from their actions, to be suffering from a problem; every one of them is hitting the other and acting in a strange manner, their appearances severely deformed and odd.
Arius sits by a window at one of the tables, covering his head with the hood of his cloak. The waiter comes to take his order, and Arius says, "I would like to know the name of this region, sir."
The person speaks in a strange language, surprising Arius. Then the system screen appears, activating the automatic translation feature, changing the text on the restaurant's papers in front of Arius, and he begins to hear the people's speech in his own language.
Arius repeats his question so the waiter can understand him. The waiter informs him that they are on Planet Tatrik, a planet belonging to one of the generals of Universe 22173, General Yoshin.
Arius is surprised by the strange names of the universes, but he understands that they follow a military system and such matters. Arius says, "How do I reach Barion?"
The waiter is shocked, and everyone is stunned by what they heard. The waiter says, "Sir, please leave the café, or do not repeat this question, please."
Arius says, "Alright, I will leave."
Arius steps outside the café. Once outside, he looks back and finds the people inside surrounding him, their eyes turned red, and a red tattoo appearing on their skin.
Arius says, "Do you know that bastard Barion?"
The moment he says the word "bastard," everyone attacks him. But in a single tiny instant, everyone turns into a sliced cat before him, as if they were nothing, the reason being that Rhynos stepped out and sliced them effortlessly.
Arius says, "I won't gain anything this way; I must search by myself."
He leaves the planet, and after a while, he arrives at a floating space island, where he finds creatures trading bound individuals.
One of them says, "How much will you pay? They are unique products, and I worked hard hunting them, man."
The buyer says, "I will buy them from you for eighty-five billion pieces."
The other man says, "No, that is far too little. I want a good amount, otherwise I won't sell."
The buyer grabs one of the boys and says, "Their quality is indeed excellent." Then he grabs a girl and says, "What use will she be to me?"
The seller says, "Don't worry, she is just for your entertainment, while the adult males and females can work on your planet."
The buyer says, "Alright, I will pay you one trillion pieces."
The seller says, "Increase it a bit; that amount is still small."
The buyer says, "Fine, five trillion pieces, and I won't go higher."
The seller says, "Fair enough, at least it will be enough for me to buy a planet with its several moons."
The buyer says, "Agreed then."
Arius hides, and the system screen prompts him to go and help the people.
Arius says, "Why should I do that? What do I care about them?"
Then a mandatory quest appears requiring him to do so, making him angry as he says, "What does that have to do with me?" Indeed, he moves while wearing the Black Eye mask and approaches them.
The seller and buyer look at him and say, "Who are you, fellow?"
Arius says, "None of your business. Free the children now before I do something you won't like."
The seller says, "What is it to you, masked man? Also, wait a second, aren't you..." Then he grabs the wanted posters in his bag, flipping through them, beginning to tremble, and swallowing hard.
The buyer approaches Arius, stands beside him, and says, "Listen to me, young man, I am here conducting a business transaction. Your interference like this in this manner is something that annoys me greatly, so it is best for you to leave before I do something you won't like either, do you understand me?" Then he begins fiddling with Arius's mask.
The buyer looks at the seller and says, "What is wrong with you? Why are you quiet instead of coming to mock this fool with me?"
The seller says, "I don't want to, goodbye!" Then he tries to flee the place, leaving everything behind.
Before another second passes, the buyer's head is severed, falling to the ground. Arius appears before the seller, grabbing him by the neck, and the seller begins screaming like a bitch, saying, "Please forgive me! I didn't mean to do anything, please!"
Arius says, "Tell me, do you know Barion's location?"
The seller says, "Yes, yes! He is the ruler of everything here, yes, and he lives on the western side over there. Under his control are merged universes. It is a sign of your approach to him; if you see it, you will know he lives inside it. Please, just don't kill me, sir!"
Arius releases him, places him in front of the children, and says with absolute coldness, "Tell me, what is his fate? The decision is yours, since he wronged you. I hate seeing someone act arrogant and full of themselves toward others, so take your retribution from him."
One of the children steps forward and, in cold blood, stabs a knife into the man's neck, causing him to collapse to the ground, blood pouring out of him.
One of the boys says, "Thank you, sir, for helping us; we will never forget this."
Arius sees the deformity on their bodies, which looked like a swollen red tumor.
Arius says, "What is this thing on you?"
One of the boys says, "This is the mark imprinted on us. Anyone who has it anywhere on their body—it serves as proof that we are under Lord Barion's absolute rule and that we are at his command forever, this mark."
Arius says, "Can you remove it, or have you thought about doing so?"
The boy who stabbed the seller says, "No, we cannot at all. It exists as long as we exist. Thanks to it, Lord Barion draws energy for his soldiers and also to enhance his wife's beauty. As he told us once, the mark signifies our love and his love for his men, his wife, and his subordinates, and that we are providing him a service he will never forget."
Arius says, "I understand now. Take good care of yourselves, kids. Also, are you able to get out of here?"
One of the boys says, "No."
Arius transports them all to a nearby planet, and one of the boys says, "This is a commercial planet; it is the same planet they forcibly took us from. Thank you, sir."
Arius says, "Do not allow anyone to dominate you. Whoever intends evil toward you, intend evil toward them as well, do you understand?"
Everyone nods in agreement, and Arius leaves the planet.
The system screen appears, instructing him to head to a location it will specify for him.
Arius says, "What is wrong with you? Why shouldn't I head to Barion now?"
However, he changes his route as commanded by the system, for the system's commands are absolute no matter what. This is the methodology Arius has followed his whole life ever since he first learned of the system.
On the other side, Clarice and Arius arrive at a planet filled with forests.
Clarice says, "Are you sure he passed through here?"
Arius says, "Yes, I am sure. I know myself—I mean, I know Black Eye very well."
Clarice says, "Alright, now tell me, how do you know this place?"
Arius says, "During my absence, I was wandering this world and exploring things; I didn't stay hidden the entire time."
Clarice says, "My dear, I am somewhat confused. Why did Black Eye come here? What is his goal? Is it really to eliminate someone or to obtain something?"
Arius says, "Let's go, let's leave, I tracked him."
He vanishes with her, and they reach Black Eye, who has landed on another desert planet.
Clarice says, "What is he doing?"
Arius says, "I don't know, but he seems to be looking for something. To my knowledge, this planet contains a library, and the librarian here has authority in sharing news of this world. He must have come to ask about something."
Up ahead, Arius—or Black Eye—stands and sees before him a building, half of which is submerged under the dirt and the other half visible above, shaped like the head of a stone dragon or turtle. Arius decides to enter.
Upon entering, he finds that the library descends downward with many shelves. Before him, he finds the librarian sitting, reading a book titled The Wisdom of the Being for Itself.
Arius steps forward and says, "Hello."
She looks at him and says, "Hello."
She appeared somewhat elderly, wearing a green shawl, a gray straw hat, and small glasses.
Arius says, "I am looking for something and need help." He also sees the tumor on her and says, "Of course, how can I help you?"
He says, "I am looking for two books: a book talking about this world, and also a book about this tumor. I am a traveling researcher from a region outside these borders, and I came diplomatically to study these cases and learn about the culture of this place, purely for the sake of learning."
The old woman says, "I understand. Yes, the books you are looking for exist, and they are on the 120th floor."
She descends with him, and they arrive there after spending time going down the stairs, which took them several minutes.
Arius says, "Thank you very much, miss."
Then Arius looks at the sign for this aisle and reads the written text, reading the sentence: "Either Victory or Honor."
He says, "Truly a beautiful phrase."
The lady—whose name turns out to be Beatrice—says she likes placing strange words on the shelves for visitors to read, adding that despite that, not many people come to this place; rarely do a few individuals come to read books or land on her planet.
Arius says, "Do you live here alone?"
She says, "Yes, I have dedicated myself, as my family did before me, to protecting the books and taking care of them until the last one of us. Unfortunately, all of them died because they could not bear the harm caused by the thieves and thugs belonging to..."
He asks, "Belonging to whom?"
She says to him, "Never mind, tell me what you want."
He says, "I would like the history and the book on the tumors."
She says, "Alright, I will fetch them for you."
Arius sits down, saying to himself, "She was surely going to mention Barion, but she couldn't because of the tumor. That's fine, I will see now any clue that makes me understand things I am ignorant of here."
Arius removes the mask and conceals it. Afterward, the old woman comes with the two books, places them down, and says, "Anything you need, let me know, I will be upstairs at the reception."
He says, "Thank you, miss."
Arius sits down and begins examining the first book regarding the history of this place.
In another area, a person we know very well awakens from his slumber, saying, "Oh God, what is this disturbing dream again?"
He rises from his bed and moves. He had a dark form, his skin solid like steel, his red eyes could solidify silk and shatter rocks, and his tail was sharp like a blade that pierces the heart and shatters its owner. Yes, it is Barion in the flesh, the nightmare of the worlds and the most dangerous creature in existence.
He walked and sat on his throne, calling for one of his servants.
The servant says, "Did you have a troubling dream again, my Lord?"
Barion says in a low, terrifying voice, barely audible due to its harshness, "Yes, and this is the seventh time today. I couldn't sleep well; I feel that something bad is going to happen."
The servant says, "Tell me, my Lord, about your dream, perhaps I can interpret it for you."
Barion says, "I dreamed... not of something specific, all I see is the shadow of an explosion and of something or someone standing inside it, then I wake up. I see nothing else—an explosion, disappearance of someone, and I wake up."
The servant says, "My Lord, it must be something good, not bad. You destroy many universes, so from seeing that scene so often, it started repeating in your dream, telling you that you will destroy others soon."
Barion says, "No, it is really strange, because the explosion I see is not the explosion of a planet, a universe, a world, or anything else; rather, an explosion that appears out of nowhere and vanishes the moment I wake up. In any case, beware of telling anyone about this."
The servant bows and says, "As you command, my Lord."
Then Barion says, "Are there any changed matters?"
The servant says, "Nothing, my Lord, everything is as usual."
Barion says, "Good. But I feel something... I feel a group of ants flying here and there across my universes randomly, do you know about that?"
The servant says, "No, my Lord, I didn't know about that. They must be a group of bandits stealing from the public as usual."
Barion says, "No, those energies are three—two together, and it seems they are suppressed, and... and the last one..."
Barion began to sense that third energy, and at the exact same time, Arius felt that someone was trying to sense his energy. So Arius, in turn, began trying to sense the energy of the one sensing him.
Suddenly, both were shocked simultaneously. Barion's face changed, and Arius's face changed as well. Both were stunned.
Arius stood up from his chair, and Barion stood up from his throne, both saying in the exact same instant, "Who was that?"
Arius suppressed his energy to zero and said, "Damn it, I was being monitored, curse it!"
The servant said to Barion, "What is wrong, my Lord?"
Barion says, "I don't know. I felt the energy of the third person, but when I located it, it suddenly disappeared. It seems he vanished from the place he was in and moved elsewhere, or he suppressed his power to zero."
The servant says, "Is it a bad thing?"
Barion says, "You fool, that person... what I felt from his power was a massive amount, and clearly he, in turn, sensed my power. He seems to be a powerful person from outside our region, which means he might be one of the other five strong ones, for it is impossible for anyone else with such power to exist besides us. We must find him, and I will eliminate him immediately, whoever he is."
The servant says, "I will have the entire army search for him."
Barion says, "Do it right now!"
Indeed, the servant leaves the council and orders all the soldiers, whose numbers cannot be counted due to their sheer volume—billions and trillions might seem like nothing compared to their numbers. He orders them to spread throughout the world and find that intruder.
In the library, Arius puts the mask back on his head and runs quickly upstairs. He reaches the librarian and says, "I will buy the two books, please."
She says to him, "Alright, but wait, why are you in a rush?"
He says, "There's no time, take all my money!" He throws a massive amount of money at her and runs out of the library.
Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, he passes by Clarice and Arius. Clarice's eyes catch him, but he flies away without paying attention to them.
Clarice says, "He just passed right by us."
Arius says, "Something must have happened that made him flee immediately. Let's ask that lady over there."
They walk toward her quickly and say, "Miss, could you tell us why that person left so fast?"
The lady looks at them, slightly surprised, and says, "My goodness, am I imagining things or what?"
But Arius says to her, "It seems like nothing, I just want to ask you about something." Then he says, "Clarice, would you wait for me outside?"
Clarice says, "As you wish, my dear."
Then Arius says, "Listen, miss, I want to know why that person left here so fast and what he came looking for here."
Old Beatrice says, "Aren't you the same person?"
He says, "Never mind that, just answer my question."
The old woman says, "He came to study the condition of the tumor present on all the inhabitants of this world, and he also came to get a few ideas about this region."
Arius says, "Wow, I didn't expect something like that. But be careful next time, miss, from those people, for they are unstable and very bad."
Before she can ask him who he is, he leaves the place immediately.
Outside, Clarice was standing, and when he came toward her, he told her that he found out he only wanted to ask about the state of this region. "Alright, now let's follow him, but I think he noticed us, otherwise why would he flee from here as soon as we came? So try to suppress your energy completely, and I will do the same, because there are other eyes watching us without our permission."
After that, the two fly off the planet.
On the other side of World Zero, Izola was sitting in her locked room, thinking about whether Arius really loved her as he used to say, and about everything he did previously.
She began thinking, saying, "Was he really serious about everything he did?" She started looking at her ring and said, "If he really loved me, was it necessary for him to deceive me to get the key from me? Or was my brother wrong in making me deceive him too and go along with his plan? I no longer know what to do; I am unable to understand. Whom do I believe—my brother who failed me, or my husband who deceived me?"
Afterward, she throws herself onto the bed and looks out the window. After that, several days pass. Barion's army begins spreading through the world in an exaggerated manner.
On the other side of World Zero, Dazai was sitting in his office when news reached him of the deployment of Barion's forces in his region.
Dazai said, "As I expected, things have gotten worse."
On the other side, Karma was in his palace, having called a meeting with all the Gods of Destruction and Creation belonging to his worlds, presenting an idea. Present at the meeting were Rhynos and the rest of the formidable Gods of Destruction.
Karma said, "A few days ago, I was thinking about starting an all-out war, and I was hesitant at first. But thanks to some of you, I managed to gather my confidence, and I discovered that it is the right opportunity to do so. News reached me that World Zero is going through complex political stages. I discovered, thanks to the help of some associates I trust, valuable information: right now, while we are sitting in deadly silence, World Zero is experiencing turmoil. It is clear that Barion has declared war on the other sides in that world, and vice versa. Incursions have been spotted between them, and it seems they will focus on each other, while we will deliver a decisive blow to the side of Gesturia and Izoria, crushing them and occupying their lands. After that, we will turn toward Barion, who will be exhausted from the war, destroy him, and achieve eternal glory, my dear friends."
One of the rulers, the ruler of World 8, says, "My Lord, we know that Barion is extremely strong, and even in a battle against others of the Five Strongest, he would win due to the power gap. But isn't he nicknamed the most dangerous creature in existence? Doesn't that mean a battle or wars like that won't affect him in the slightest?"
Karma says, "You are right, I really thought about that. But I am here—the only one capable of defeating Barion. I will face him if necessary, but our priority is to crush the rest, especially Dazai and Celes. I need to finish what my ancestors before me started, which is controlling every atom in this existence. So all of you must prepare in these days, because we won't attack right now; rather, we will wait for a valuable gift before the big attack."
Rhynos says, "And what is it, my Lord?"
Karma says, "Do not worry, everything in its time, everything in its time."