Gala jumped away from Arthur's body as it began to unleash an absurd amount of spiritual power. The Seika's body wasn't dead because the duke didn't attack it but attacked his soul instead.
This result was the duke's aim. He needed to prevent the Seika from controlling Dia in his weakened state, or even worse, kill her. That's why the plan was to destroy his soul immediately.
'Then, where is this spiritual power coming from?' Gala looked on with confusion at Arthur's body, which began to rise in the air. She turned to the duke and found his face to be pale, his lips moving.
"Impossible... he should be..."
Gala agreed, even if she was relieved that he wasn't dead. However, she still couldn't explain what was going on with his body.
Suddenly, she felt a crushing presence from above. When she looked at the morning sky, she found clouds looming to form a giant circle. From the center of the clouds descended a golden pillar of light that struck Arthur's body.
The pillar prevented anyone from approaching Arthur's body. After a few moments, the pillar disappeared to reveal him standing with his empty sleeve hovering.
'Is this... spiritual power replacing his arm?'
His body was shining golden as his long hair flew upward. His eyes were still unfocused and blank. Standing there, Gala heard him mutter.
"I just... want to survive."
Gritting his teeth, the Seika raised his face toward the sky as an otherworldly howl left his mouth. If Gala didn't know any better, she would have thought it was the howl of an injured monster.
The black clouds suddenly split as if answering his call. Gala and the rest looked up with fear as a pair of golden eyes looked at them from the crack. Once their eyes met the pair of eyes, their blood froze as their bodies refused to listen anymore.
'This is... fear?' Gala's mind slowed down as she felt an emotion that she didn't feel toward anything but time. The pair of golden eyes glared at them as a heavenly voice shook the land.
"Who dares hurt my vessel?"
The voice was ancient and thunderous, demanding everything to submit. The Seika suddenly raised his armless sleeve toward the sky as pair of eyes turned to him.
A pillar of light descended that blinded everyone. When the group regained their vision, they found Arthur to have two arms instead of one.
Still raised toward the sky, black and golden metal made the new arm the Seika obtained. The Seika gave another howl before disappearing.
"Where..." Duke Zenos turned to look for him, but he didn't need to. The Seika's wrathful eyes appeared in front of the duke as the arm grabbed his face. "You bastard!" The duke roared, but the Seika raised him by the head and slammed him to the ground.
The duke's nose broke, but his flames exploded to attack. However, Arthur was unfazed as he raised let go of the duke's face and punched his abdomen
Gala could have never imagined the magnitude of destruction that single punch did. As soon as he struck the duke, the earth caved in several meters down as the duke vomited mouthfuls of blood.
Larza appeared next to the Seika and spread her arms to trap him within. It seems she also realized that the power released by the Seika was far stronger than Dia could currently summon.
Looking at Larza, the whites of Arthur's eyes turned red. He raised his arms as words left his mouth one by one.
"Art of Creator, Submission." His words were unhurried, but the world shook after he finished them. Larza's isolation barrier broke move away from Arthur and trapped her instead.
"Impossible!" Larza said before the Seika appeared in front of her. He struck her abdomen, piercing it easily. He pulled out his arm as Larza's blood came out from Larza's mouth. She reached and touched his chest before falling to the ground.
"Die, vile creature!" The duke appeared again with his flames after recovering from Arthur's attack. Arthur gritted his teeth and dashed forward to meet him.
The two fists collided as a massive shockwave was produced. Arthur gave another howl and punched with his other arm. The duke's chest caved in, and he was sent flying away.
"What is this?" Dia descended beside Gala and looked on with fear. "What is he?"
"Something we shouldn't have provoked," Gala said with fear. "He almost looks like... a calamity."
"He's a human; we saw him." Dia shook her head. "Everything changed after..."
"I don't know what he is, but I need to stop him." Gala looked at Arthur's body. "He can't handle the power he's wielding."
It seems the duke noticed it as well, as he chose to have a battle of attrition. His flames burned as he kept pushing Arthur to use his power.
Gala summoned her spirit and ordered it to attack the duke. However, with the royal artifact, she couldn't do a lot of damage to him.
"Dia, aid me!" The duke roared. "I destroyed his soul; he can't control you anymore!"
Dia shook her head as her body trembled. The power that he left in her core didn't disappear but have only grown more than before. It began invading her sea consciousness, birthing new feelings that she never felt before.
The power demanded submission.
Dia couldn't move even as her father lost his arm, torn away by the Seika. The man she talked to today looked nothing more than a wrathful monster now.
'We've caused this.' She realized to herself for the first time. 'We are the reason this misfortune has befallen us.'
Suddenly, the sky began to rain. The air split as someone descended with the rain. The man had a giant frame and wore full-body armor. Dia has met him before; he was the Knight of Honesty.
"What do we have here?" The Knight squinted his eyes as he looked at the Seika. "Is this a beast or man?" He couldn't tell. "I hope he's not the one I'm supposed to protect; this thing will rip me apart."
"He is the Seika of Living Beings." Gala informed the Knight of Honesty. "We need to stop him."
"Stop him from killing Duke Zenos? Why?" The Knight couldn't understand. "We can wait, and we'll deal a heavy blow to Alva."
"He'll die."
"A worthy sacrifice." The Knight refuted.
"Is this your king's wishes?" Gala snapped at him, and the Knight seemed to be in a dilemma. He shook his head in the end. "Then shut up and help me."
***
After the duke struck Arthur, he found himself sitting on the edge of a cliff. He was confused for a second because he felt familiar even though he didn't recognize this place.
"You like to get hurt."
A voice spoke to him from beside him. Arthur turned to look at the speaker and found a child in front of him. What startled Arthur was that the child had the same eyes as him.
"I don't choose to be hurt, but I still get hurt," Arthur replied. "Who are you?"
"I am you."
"You look nothing like me."
"I am you but from a long time ago." The child grinned. "This is not how I look like, but it's how I looked like when I visited this cliff."
"Okay, me." Arthur played along. "Am I dead?"
"The right term is 'we' instead." The child shook his head. "We're not, not yet, not again."
"Then why am I here?" Arthur asked, confused.
"The right question is why I am here." The child corrected again. "I'm here to help you since I've put you through a lot already."
"Help me?"
"Yes, I'll restructure your soul. I'll also gift you with something." The child raised his hand, and a book appeared. "This is my favorite Art of Creator. However, your body still can't handle it. Use it well!"
"Thank you?"
"No, thank you." The child sighed. "I'm sorry for putting you through this, but no worries." The child met his eyes. "For I am you, and you are me."
"I am you," Arthur repeated as he looked at the book in his hand. It held the word 'submission.' He opened it and began to read. "and you are me."
"Exactly." The child nodded. "Arthur." He called out, and Arthur turned to him. "Let's save the world we created together, but don't forget something important."
"What is it?" Arthur was confused, but he was curious.
"Don't forget to have fun!" The child gave a bright smile, and the scene began to get brighter until all Arthur could see is white.
'Have fun...'
Arthur found the notion to be ridiculous. How could he have fun as things are? He began to remember all the things that hurt him since he arrived in Alka, and rage began to boil within him.
Suddenly, the scene began to change, and Arthur found the duke in front of him, bloodied and his arms torn, while Gala, Dia, and a knight he didn't recognize all holding into Arthur's body.
"You're awake now." Gala smiled.