Second World

"Arlcard…!!!" Jack shouted when he saw the scene.

He tried to get to Arlcard but the mists had reformed back into the red smoke monster. Its tentacles appeared again and they swung at Jack.

Jack had no choice but to retreat while using Magic Shield to block the incoming tentacles. He could still hear Alrcard's scream. He had to get to his companion!

Jack was ready to activate Lightning God Suit and forced himself into the red smoke when Arlcard's scream stopped abruptly.

The silence lasted a second before suddenly the red smoke in front of Jack burst apart.

"Huh?" Jack was flabbergasted. The red smoke was gone. There was not even a mist. Jack's didn't feel a trace of the monster's presence anymore.

He then noticed Arlcard was lying face down on the ground before the now-empty pedestal.

"Arlcard!" Jack shouted while running forward.

"Peniel! Cast Fast Heal!" Jack commanded.

Peniel did as instructed. Arlcard had lost some HP but his HP bar was still above half. It was refilled to full after receiving Peniel's heal. However, Arlcard remained lying on the ground.

Jack knelt on the floor and rolled Arlcard to face him. Arlcard's eyes were open but they looked hollow.

"Arlcard!" Jack called while snapping his fingers in front of Arlcard's face. The vampire showed no response.

"What happened to him?" Jack asked Peniel.

Peniel didn't answer, because she didn't know as well.

Jack continued calling Arlcard while shaking his body, but it was as if he was holding a doll. There was no response whatsoever.

Suddenly, Arlcard's body started to jerk before it trembled vigorously. Jack tried grabbing it to stop the shaking but it just intensified. Then, as abruptly as it started, the shivering ended.

Arlcard's eyes blinked.

"Arlcard…?" Jack asked when he saw some sort of life was back in the vampire's eyes.

Arlcard stood back up.

"Hey… Are you okay…? What happened?" Jack asked.

Arlcard didn't answer. He seemed to be disoriented for a while. He replied not long after, "I'm okay. Our business here is done."

"Huh? Done?" Jack asked. He still didn't understand what it was all about just now. They didn't even get to kill the red monster. It just suddenly went out of existence, and he didn't get any exp points from that. Not to mention, he didn't hear any notification that his companion quest was completed. He opened and checked his quest page and saw the companion quest was still there. The description also hadn't changed.

"Let's get out of here," Arlcard said and walked behind the pedestal.

When Jack looked over, he noticed a portal had appeared there.

He didn't understand what was going on, but he guessed he should be glad they could now leave this place on Arlcard's terms.

Jack looked at Arlcard again. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with the vampire. Arlcard's face was as expressionless as always, but he couldn't forget the sight when Arlcard shook fiercely on his lap.

"Are you truly okay?" Jack asked.

Arlcard turned to Jack as if he didn't understand the question. He turned back again and said, "Let's leave."

He stepped into the portal without waiting for Jack.

Jack was used to Arlcard's cold treatment but it felt different this time. "Do you think he is truly okay?" He asked Peniel.

Peniel shrugged. "He looks okay, but I do worry the urn has done something to him. I don't know what that urn is. We were not close enough to get a better look, but I don't have a recollection of an artifact that resembles that urn."

"A simple urn won't have a level 82 mythical guarding it," Jack muttered as he stepped into the portal.

He found himself in the interior of the mausoleum. The slanted door on the floor where they entered the labyrinth was gone. There was no trace of a door ever being there.

Arlcard was not there. The door to the mausoleum was opened. Sunlight came in from outside. It was daytime. He also heard some commotion from outside.

He went out and saw Arlcard floating above the mausoleum.

'Does he not worry the guards outside the fence might see him?' Jack thought with worry.

Arlcard noticed Jack down there. He understood Jack's worry after seeing his expression.

"There are no guards," Arlcard said and pointed. "They have their attention taken elsewhere."

After making sure there were truly no guards outside the fence, Jack used the Gold Dragon Wings and flew up to where Arlcard was. Arlcard glanced at the golden wings with interest.

Up there, Jack had a better look at the situation. The city army on the wall was fighting against another force from the outside. The most eye-catching thing was a massive dragon above the wall. A dragon that was as black as the night. It was raining dark breath at the army outside the wall. Jack believed that the dragon must be Sangrod's country guardian.

"Horatio's allies have started their siege," Jack said.

"Yes," Arlcard agreed. "I don't think that siege will last long with that dragon around."

Jack heard some pinging sounds then. He thought at first he had received a message from a friend, but he noticed the sound was different. He was still wondering what it was when Peniel said, "Look inside your inventory."

Jack did so and found that it was the communication device given by Horatio.

"Where were you? I've been trying to call you since two days ago!" Horatio's voice was heard once Jack clicked the accept button on the device. Jack could hear the panic in his voice.

"I'm sorry. I'm trapped in some kind of a pocket world," Jack apologized. "I see your plan has started?"

"It has been since yesterday, and we don't have much time. Marcus might have suspected something. The country's main army is closer than we think. They will arrive by tomorrow. The army outside won't survive against the main army and Marcus' blood army. We only have one day to complete our plan!"

"I'm ready now. We can begin immediately. Where are you?"

"I'm hiding inside the palace."

"Hiding?" Jack asked.

"Once the siege started yesterday. Marcus decided he wasn't going to take the chance. He decided to secretly assassinate his three remaining offspring instead of publicly executing them. I managed to flee and hide with the help of the Book of the Damned. My two siblings were not so lucky. I'm now the sole survivor of Marcus' descendant."

'And the sole heir to Sangrod's throne,' Jack said in his mind.