Chapter 37 : Lumbra City

The next few days, the trio traveled on the bone dragon and to be honest, their traveling speed was quite decent.

Mary was dumbfounded when she rode on the dragon when she saw its speed. Lucy could only chuckle as Mary didn't even experience Arthur's speed when in lightning form so she was amazed by only this.

In truth, Arthur only planned to travel on the dragon for a few days but the two girls enjoyed traveling on the dragon as it was surprisingly comfortable so they continued to use the dragon.

....

It has been a month since they started traveling on the bone dragon, they did stop sometimes to rest and other things or else they would already arrive at the east of the continent.

Lucy and Mary continued to spar almost every day, as for Arthur he just read books or tried a few things with his magic, in fact, he came to learn many new spells thanks to Zodiak's books and even after 1 month he still didn't finish them all, plus he took all the academy's book so his collection is humongous.

There is also something that bothered Arthur, it's that he almost didn't get some alone time with Lucy, so they didn't anything except a few kisses, he felt a bit depressed but he couldn't do anything about it since Mary was here.

When they were traveling, Arthur asked Mary about the clan for more detailed information so she answered him and explained everything she knew about it.

Apparently, the clan specialized in martial arts, almost everyone there is a martial artist with immense power and skill, only a few are mages but they are weaker compared to the martial arts, even Mary she didn't know why but they have some special methods to train themselves and raise their stats by a big amount.

Since Sonia didn't have a talent for martial arts and she only was good at magic, she was sent to become the headmaster of the academy.

Mary also mentioned that the clan had more women than men, and it was because that for a mysterious reason, only women would inherit the good talents and are more suited for those special martial arts, there was indeed some men who were good at it but they were extremely few.

Also, the clan apparently controlled many facilities and had some people who attained key positions in various powerful forces in the continents, plus Mary added that the clan is very secretive, only a few people knew of its existence.

When he asked her who was in the control of such a powerful clan, Mary said that it was Sonia's big sister.

Mary even mentioned that she disliked Sonia's big sister as she was ruthless and cold-blooded, she was even a professional assassin, her skills are deadly, it was said that her talent was unimaginable and she was a true prodigy in martial arts, she controlled her clan even though she is still young.

But there is something that confused Arthur, why would anyone from the clan want him dead? Mary told him that probably Sonia's big sister is the one who wanted him dead, but why? he didn't even know that woman so why would she want him dead?

Nonetheless, he wanted to kill the one who gave that order, he did indeed promise Mary that he wouldn't touch Sonia until he investigated but he didn't know if he can control his emotions when he sees her.

He already swore that the culprit will die but there is just no reason to start massacring everyone without giving it a second thought, he didn't enjoy killing, he only killed it because he had to, so if he ever met any of the council members, he would see their reaction first and observe how will they react, will they apologize? or do something else?

The only way he would lose all rationality and start a massacre is if someone dared to hurt Lucy, at that time, none would escape from his grasp as he will mercilessly kill them all, but he hoped that time will never come and peaceful days like this would continue as he really like the current situation, just travelling with Lucy and exploring new places.

....

After 2 weeks, they finally arrived at the city which is in the far east of the continent, it was called 'Lumbra City', it was the only place people go to for a trip towards Itas continent, it had a big port full of large and small boats.

Arthur called back the bone dragon several miles from the city then proceeded by foot with the others, it was better not to attract attention to avoid any unnecessary troubles.

Actually, Arthur planned to travel the sea on the bone dragon but Lucy and Mary wanted to go by boat so he could only give up on the idea of traveling on the dragon.

By boat, the trip would take a long time but he just couldn't refuse a request from Lucy.

Very soon, they arrived at the city and entered it after paying some money for the entrance fee.

Lumbra city was considered a bustling city, as it was in a very strategical place, it was near the sea so merchants would often come and go to trade things they got from the other continent.

Arthur also noticed that there is a lot of beggars and poor people in here, there was a lot of stalls set by rich merchants, they were selling various things at outrageous prices, other than that there were some kids and old people selling flowers or simple things, they looked in a bad shape, ragged clothes and dirty appearance.

Mary couldn't help but stop walking, take out a gold coin from her storage than say

"I like your flowers, how about you give this big sister the flowers and take this and buy a good meal?"

Mary really couldn't handle seeing little kids working like this, they were very young and still didn't learn anything about life yet here they are work every day to get money for food and shelter

"T-thanks big sister, but I can't a get meal until I sell all my flowers or else Uncle bald will beat us again"

A little boy, approximately 5 or 6 years old accompanied by 2 other kids took the gold coin excitedly and replied to Mary.

A gold coin could let them leave for a year if they preserved right and didn't waste anything on useless stuff, but unfortunately, this money was not for him and he had to give all his earning at the end of the day.

Mary could only nod towards the boy and patted his head gently while forcing a smile, seeing kids like this smile made her heart ache as she was very sensitive towards things like this.

One must know she met Sonia when she was 6 years old, and before that, she lived in the western continent, the wasteland, it was truly an awful place, full of bloodshed and wars, she lived a couple of years in poverty, so she in someway is similar to those kids.

After a short while, Mary reluctantly let go of the kids and turned to Arthur and Lucy, she apologized for the delay but Lucy told her it's alright.

They went for the port to search for a boat to travel on, actually it's almost impossible to find a boat that will travel immediately as it needs passengers and preparation, nevertheless they headed to the port to reserve some places and wait until it's time for the trip, though Arthur wanted to find the boat which will travel sooner as he didn't want to stay here for long.

..

It didn't take them long to arrive at their destination, however, the port was bustling with people, there were even some stalls which sold fish and other sea food.

Seeing the seafood, Lucy's eyes lit up and she hurriedly went to buy some, she also dragged Mary with her.

As for Arthur, he began to search for a suitable boat, in fact, there was really a lot of them, there was even some with a symbol of some sort on them, so he guessed they must be owned by a power such as the church or maybe a guild.

The most eye-catching ones were ones which had a symbol of a horse, all those boats were built by some kind of dark red wood which looked quite sturdy, plus it all those boats had a special demeanor, there were armed guards standing there and they looked like experienced fighters.

Arthur picked random boats which had this symbol and went on it to talk with the captain to reserve some places if possible.

Just as he was going to enter the boat, the armored men standing there to guard rushed at Arthur and pointed their arms at him while saying

"This is a private property, please turn around and go away, or else don't blame us for attacking you!"

Hearing this and seeing their attitude, Arthur furrowed his brows and retorted

"I am only here to talk with your captain, Since this boat is heading towards Itas continent, I want to reserve some places"

Actually, due to his good hearing, he managed to eavesdrop and get some useful information, apparently those boats with the horse symbol are all going to the Itas continent, and they all belong to the 'E-Clips Company', it's a trading company and it has a large influential power, it has many branches in all continents and it's said that its fortune is unbelievable.

There is 2 main Headquarters of the E-clips Company, one is on the western continent and the other is in Itas continent, and to be honest, it's quite a smart and wise decision to make the headquarters there, considering that those 2 continents don't have an official ruler so they can freely act there.

There are many other trading companies like this, but this one was the most known, be it slaves, legendary items, strong skill books or even simple things, they handled them all and this company is renewed to be the best amongst its peers.

Arthur also heard that those ships are transporting items from this continent to the Itas continent and apparently the head of the E-clips company is also here.

While looking around, Arthur saw a ship bigger than the others and many times more luxurious, it even had gold in it and looked more majestic, he guessed that it's definitely the main ship which the head of the company will be, but in truth, which ever ship suited him as long as it takes him to his destination so he chose a random one which looked ordinary much like the others ones except the main ship of course.

The guards were stunned for a second before saying

"This is not some inn or a carriage to reserve a place, this boat is used to hold 'goods' so you cannot travel in it"

The guards relaxed when they heard what said and they replied to him calmly, in fact, they thought it was a spy or some thief, as those kind of accidents would happen a lot.

"It that so? but I'm willing to pay a lot, are you sure the captain is not interested?"

The guards didn't react and kept solemn faces.

"Sir, please leave, even if you pay a lot, you still cannot ride on this ship!"

Just as they said that, a middle-aged man came from behind them in neither quick nor slow pace, he appeared quite irritated for some reason, once he arrived near the guards, he started yelling

"Damn fools, this lord proposed to pay a lot just for some places yet you refuse? don't you even know the motto of our company? 'if you have a chance to earn money then take it!' , ahh! what a bunch of ignorant fools, get out of my face!"

This middle-aged man snapped at the guards for sometimes, when they hurriedly left he turned towards Arthur and bowed his head while saying

"Please excuse my subordinates, normally we were instructed to refuse anyone who wants to ride on the ship but I just happened to hear you are willing to pay a lot, so why not accept your request? Please don't think bad of our company, it's just that every gold coin counts for us and whatever profit we gain is beneficial to us so when an esteemed person like you proposes a good offer, of course, we have to graciously accept"

The middle-aged man spoke respectfully, but he truly was too shameless, he announced his intentions right away and declared that he only accepted Arthur's proposal because he would pay a lot.

Though Arthur despised this kind of people, they would grasp any opportunity to gain money, even though gold coins are mere objects and in a life and death situation, it's not those gold coins that will save you but your strength, nevertheless he didn't speak his thoughts and kept them to himself, each and every person had a thing they liked to obtain, this man, for example, was hungry for gold coins.

"Hahaha, no problem! Since you are accepted, then let's cut to the chase, I want to reserve 3 places, name your price"

There was no need to talk about needless things, Arthur straight out asked for a price, he didn't want to befriend this kind of people, he just wanted to get this over with.

In fact, greedy or evil people, that had nothing to do with him, if they didn't provoke or annoy him then he would ignore them too, so as long as this man doesn't go over the line then it's fine.

"Oh, so this esteemed man want to reserve 3 places, right..., how about 1.000 gold each!"

Normally, a trip from Lumbra city to Itas continent would cost at most 200 gold even though the trip is long, there may be an attack from pirates or monsters, so the price cannot be that high, but this man asked for a whopping 1.000 gold, he really is shameless.

"Deal!"

Without any thought, Arthur agreed, for him, this amount of gold is nothing, heck! even if he asked for 10.000 gold coins each he would have accepted either, it's not like he was lacking either, the gold he had would last him for a few lifetimes, Zodiak was filthy rich, Arthur could only continuously thank Zodiak for leaving all his fortune behind.

Once he thought of Zodiak, a thought struck him, why did he not get another portion of his power, I mean, his intelligence already increased by a lot, but still, he didn't unlock another portion, maybe there is a specific condition he needs to trigger? Well it's not like he was in urgent need of it, he was just wondering, he shrugged that idea off and decided to think about it later.

..

As for the middle-aged man, once he saw Arthur agree right away, he felt happy yet depressed, he was happy because he managed to earn 3.000 gold coin this easily but he felt sad because he didn't ask for a higher price.

He smiled back at Arthur and spoke

"Great, tomorrow morning we will begin our trip, as for the payment you can pay me tomorrow, this one's name is Koez, I will instruct the guards to not block you like today.."

Arthur just nodded towards Koez while saying

"Since that's the case then I will come back tomorrow with my companions, I'm called Arthur"

After they shaken hands, Arthur left the ship and went to look for Lucy and Mary.

It didn't take him long to find both of them, they were still buying sea food, especially Lucy, it seems she bought a whole lot of it and stored them in her ring, she loved this type of food so she spent a lot of gold on it. She almost emptied the whole shops.

Actually, the central cities did not always sell seafood and only nobles or rich people can afford to buy them, plus their cost would be many times higher than in here so Lucy grasped this opportunity and bought whatever she liked.

She already got a ring which contained a billion or so gold coin given to her by Arthur, he wanted to give her more but she refused to say that if he ever needed more then she would ask him, so basically, she had no shortage of money.

"I already reserved places for us in a ship, we will depart tomorrow morning"

Arthur informed them about the trip's matter, Lucy only nodded while smiling at him as for Mary she stared at him curiously then said

"T-this fast?.. did you perhaps pay more than the normal price?"(Mary)

"Indeed..but that doesn't matter, it's not like we lack gold, hehe~~"

Hearing his answer, Mary could only nod her head, in fact, she knew that they had a lot of gold, Lucy vaguely told her that their fortunes is immense but she didn't precise, so Mary only guessed that they had a couple of thousands gold.

A million at best, and even with that, paying a lot for a trip seemed a huge waste, especially when there was poor people struggling even to gain a gold coin, but it's not like Arthur cared about them, he pitied them but every person has to care for himself just like Arthur did, sometimes he would help when the situation is extreme but other than that he will not interfere.

...

They soon found an inn and booked two rooms for the night, the inn wasn't that bad and it had some good hospitality, but unlike last time, there was no problem, though Lucy still attracted a lot of attention, none dared to take action.

It was already sunset when they went to the inn since the day is almost over, Mary went to her room, as for Arthur and Lucy, they went to theirs.

It was not until an hour passed did they start enjoying themselves, in fact, they didn't make love for more than a month now so they fully released their desires and went at it for hours, but in the middle of the deed, Arthur happened to hear Mary leave her room and head downstairs, however, even after hearing that, he paid it no heed and continued enjoying himself with Lucy, after all, Mary was an adult and she can take care of herself.

Arthur and Lucy only stopped late at night, they held themselves because of Mary, but now they released all their pent-up desires, especially Lucy, she missed doing that more than Arthur but she had to hold herself for the sake of Mary, after all, they just couldn't do it in her presence.

As they were snuggling and chatting happily, Lucy remembered something so she looked up at Arthur with hopeless eyes.

Arthur sensed her gaze so he looked back at her in return and once he saw her expectant gaze and that hopeless look, he shook his head and said

"Alright, I know, you're worried for your friend, but she's an adult, she surely is strong enough to take care of herself, maybe she's just taking a walk"

"B-But, but it's been more than 5 hours! she previously told me she was going to see who is taking care of those little kids we met today, I thought it was no big deal so I payed it no attention, but something must have happened..."

Seeing her sad look, Arthur's heart ached a bit, he sighed and replied to her

"Alright alright, we'll go look for her.."

Thought it was a pain to look for her and he didn't particularly care about her, she was nevertheless Lucy's friend and Lucy seemed worried about her so he has no choice but looks for her.

Both of them quickly wore clothes and readied themselves, then they headed downstairs and asked the inn keeper about any nearby orphanage.

They didn't have a clue about where Mary is, the only information they got is that she went to look for that 'bald' guy the little boy was talking about.

The inn keeper didn't hold back and answered them earnestly, so they didn't waste any time and headed for the orphanage, apparently, there was only one, and the kids who are selling flowers or other things indeed live there.

Once they left the inn, Arthur held Lucy and transformed into lightning, for some reason, Lucy wanted to go there fast, so Arthur could only comply.

Even though they didn't have a map of the city, it was quite easy to find the orphanage, it looked like a warehouse more than an orphanage or an habitable-building.

Arthur didn't just knock or the door or anything, he barged in without caring since his speed was godlike, no one was able to notice him.

Once he and Lucy were there, they saw no one, it was empty but with their keen senses, they managed to hear some cries from a corner of the buildings, actually it was indeed a warehouse, there was scattered beds and destroyed furniture everywhere, it was quite spacious.

Within seconds they arrived where the crying noise originated from, it was actually a group of kids, most of them were crying why the others were clenching their fists and holding their tears.

The little boy from earlier was also present, he had fresh bruises on his body and some scratches on his face, they were not serious wounds but they are still painful, especially for a little kid.

The appearance of Arthur and Lucy startled the kids, they crawled back and hugged each other as if afraid, however, the little boy seemed to recognize Lucy from earlier so he ran up to her and said

"Yo-You.., you were with big sister this morning right? p-please save her! she came earlier to talk with us but she was taken by Uncle bald and other guys"

Lucy was quite surprised when she heard that, Mary? taken? how is that possible, with her strength, there is few people who can match her, was she maybe poisoned or drugged?

She hurriedly patted the little boy and responded to him

"Okey, little boy, don't worry, we will save 'big sister', where did uncle bald take her?"

Even though Lucy appeared calm, she felt anxious, she really cared for Mary, and if something happened to her she wouldn't forgive herself, if she went with her then this wouldn't have happened.

"T-the basement, it's that way!" The little boy pointed at the nearby door not far away.

Seeing her state, Arthur wrapped his arm around her waist and transformed into lightning, he noticed the door from way earlier but he just wanted the boy to confirm if Mary was taken there or not.

In a split second they arrived at the door, it was turned into dust by the lightning but Arthur didn't stop, there was actually stairs leading down, there was some candle on the wall to provide some light, it appears those stairs lead very far down.

With their speed, it only took them a couple of seconds to arrive at the end of the stairs, what they saw was a simple room with no special decoration, there was 2 people there, a bald man and another skinny man.

Fred(Human): LVL 97

Loyk(Half-human/Half beastmen): LVL 81

Arthur appraised them both and they seemed quite high level, it was really strange, normally people would have low levels, at most 20 or 30 but these two had strangely high LVLS.

The baldy Fred and the Loyk were startled by the sudden appearance of Arthur and Lucy, they only saw a streak of lightning then these two appeared out of thin air.

Before they could even react, Lucy leaped on the skinny guy, one punch was enough for his head to fly out of his body, then she jumped on the bald guy and snapped both of his arms in lightning speed.

Lucy was really angry, it was sure these two guys took Mary since the little boy said so but once they entered the room she didn't see Mary around so hopeless thoughts soon engulfed her and in the spur of the moment she killed that skinny guy but she held back and didn't kill the bald guy, she needed to question him first.

"That female beastman that came earlier, she was taken by you, where is she now? SPEAK!"

The baldy was screaming from pain, he couldn't even react and could only helplessly watch as his comrade was killed in an instant and he got both of arms broken, the pain was agonizing but once he heard Lucy, he couldn't help but feel fear.

Arthur saw what happened and he knew how Lucy felt, but he didn't want her to do those ruthless things, instead, he preferred to do that for her, so he walked in front of the wailing baldy and coldly said

"Didn't you hear? she asked you where is that female beastman and what did you do to her! you got 5 seconds, if you don't speak, I'll cut off one of your legs"

Hearing this, Fred shivered as deep inside him, he knew Arthur wasn't just joking, nonetheless, he didn't answer and kept staring at the couple with a fierce glare.

5 seconds passed and the baldy still didn't reply, it seems he planned to act stubborn so Arthur stretched his hand, white sword energy appeared on his hand, he waved it with fast speed and 'poof', Fred's right leg was cleanly cut and blood gushed out endlessly.

...

The baldy regretted not replying as the pain was even more torturous than the last one, in fact, he disliked pain, so when his leg was cut off, it was like hell for him.

"S-She was taken..."

Lucy panicked when she heard that, her killing intent surged out, even more, she coldly looked at the screaming baldy and said

"Who took her? and where! SPEAK, don't try to delay!"

Arthur waved his head again and the right arm of the man went was cut off too, a pool of blood soon formed under the baldy, his face even paled and his screams increased, even more, he didn't think Arthur would cut off his arm out of the blue, but he didn't dare waste any more time as the pain was intense and he knew they would only torture him more if the didn't answer truthfully.

"B-behind that wall, there is a long corridor, they are probably still dragging her.."

Fred looked at the wall at his left, indicating to Lucy that it was the wall he was talking about, he then breathed a sigh of relief, even though he already lost an arm and a leg, he gave them what they wanted to they will probably let him live.

But to his surprise, with the last wave of his hand, Arthur beheaded the baldy but he didn't forget to store the corpses in his storage, then he crushed the wall and rushed towards the corridor with Lucy in his hands.

Even under his lightning form, it took them 2 minutes to finally arrive at the end of the dark corridor, one must know that 2 minutes on his lightning form is a humongous distance, it's even more than 50 kilometers, just where did this lead? and why did it even exist?

At the end of the corridor there was a steel door which had some runes on it and behind it, Arthur and Lucy could hear some voice

"Julian, what do are we going to do with this one?"

"she is a previous member of the council of the Nemia academy, she must hold precious information, we'll try to get it out of her, if it's not possible, we'll just dispose of her"

"ahh, such a waste, and here I wanted to have some fun with her~~~"

"You and your disgusting hobbies....anyways, later, you have to go back and dispose of those kids too, they saw us and they need to die, our existence must not and cannot be known by anyone, do you hear me?"

"Yes Yes! You already told me that a thousand times.."

"I'm just reminding you of the rules, you are a new member of 'Medusa' so you need to follow the rules, otherwise, they would send one of their 'assassins' to dispose of some trash like us, don't forget that our position is tight since we failed two missions already!"

"Alright alright...., the infiltration to E-clips is successful, we probably would get rewarded this time.."

"Rewarded my ass! the mission is still not complete, don't let your guard down!"

Arthur have heard enough, it appeared that there are only 2 people and they are from 'Medusa', the name seemed weird but it was not the time to think about things like this.

Lucy advanced slowly and punched the steel door which seemed sturdy but unfortunately, she didn't hold back and used all her strength.

The door was pulverized, it was literally crushed into bits and pieces, even the ground seemed to shake by the punch, everything which was behind the door was also destroyed by the force of the punch.

The two who were talking a second ago were surprised by what they saw, they were happily chatting a second ago, but all of the sudden, the reinforced door was smashed to pieces along, the small room was wrecked and even the ground shook.

There was dust all over the small room and it was quite hard to see, nevertheless, they managed to see a dark clothed woman with a man next to her, they entered the room leisurely.

It only took several seconds for the dust to disappear, Arthur could now see those two.

It was two black-clothed people who wore masks, they didn't have anything special on them, only a black robe and a mask, that was it.

He didn't waste time and appraised them right away

Julian(human) : LVL 243

Bony(human) :LVL187

He was stunned for a second to see their LVLS, one of them even had a LVL similar to a bishop, 'Who are they? the church? no that's not possible! why would they be secretive if they are from the church? they said 'Medusa' earlier, but what exactly is it?...'

Though their high LVLS impressed him, he was still the least bit worried, in fact, he was as calm as water, people of their caliber are not his match, but they indeed were capable of capturing Mary.

Speaking of her, she was unconscious on the ground not too far away from the 2 masked men, she had some injuries but she didn't appear to be dead or heavily injured.

In a flash, Lucy appeared next to Mary and began checking her condition, as for the other 2, they were astonished as they couldn't react in time, they only saw Lucy disappear and appear next to the unconscious beastman.

"Who are you..."

The one named Julian, even though he was surprised by Lucy's speed, was still calm, he turned his head to look at Arthur and calmly asked about his identity.

Arthur only smirked and responded

"It should be me asking that, but I managed to somewhat grasp your identities, what was it again?... ah yes, 'Medusa', well it's not like it matters, you will die today"

Julian was startled once he heard that, for this man to know all of this, he guessed that their conversation was heard earlier, he was someone with keen sight, just seeing the door was smashed into pieces and that explosive strength and incredible speed, he judged them to be extremely strong, so he began to think of underhanded means to take care of them, after all, it was his speciality.

"Friend, it's only a misunderstanding, why not just let go and each will go on his way?"

Lucy affirmed that Mary was alright, she was merely unconscious and she didn't have anything serious like a deep wound, once she finished checking her friend, she turned her head to glare at those two and her killing intent covered all the room.

Even those 2 experienced fighters and cold-blooded killers felt a shiver down to their spine, they couldn't help but shake a bit from the strong killing intent emanated by Lucy.

"I don't care if it's a misunderstanding or whatnot, I'm going to ask you some questions and if you answer me, I may consider sparing you"

Bony, who was silent from the beginning, snapped out of it, he saw what that couple was capable of but he still believed himself to be stronger, which was idiotic, nevertheless he shouted at Arthur and said

"EVERYONE WHO SAW US SHALL DIE, NO ONE CAN KNOW ABOUT OUR EXISTENCES, WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO ACT SO BOSSY, JUST DIE!"

He then disappeared and reappeared behind Arthur.

To be honest, Arthur was surprised to see someone teleport like that, this easily and without incantation, nevertheless he didn't feel worried or in danger, just as Bony appeared behind him and stricken with his dagger, Arthur teleported just a couple of meters to the left, his decision making and calmness were far greater than someone like bony, after all his wisdom and intelligence were sky-high.

Feeling that his dagger only hit air, Bony could only stare in disbelief, he had a special skill for that teleportation and he even attacked the opponent by surprise, but his hit missed and his enemy teleported away with lightning speed, he couldn't believe that this man could react in time and dodge like that.

Arthur felt that it was hopeless to keep this man alive, he seemed to be the crazy type and would not answer his questions, plus he didn't feel like torturing him.

He put his hand on his katana, and his figure blurred for a split second, he used [Lone sword] on Bony, and the poor man could not even react in time, he was beheaded and could only see Arthur's figure blur for a bit before his conscience blackened.

A headless body soon hit the ground and the head of Bony flew away before landing a couple of meters away from its body.

As for Julian, he could only stare in disbelief, now he was absolutely sure he was not their match, he could not even see what killed Bony. The only thing he saw was Arthur's figure blurring for a split second... 'Was he that fast to behead Bony then get back to the same position?... Nonsense! This is illusion Magic!'

Arthur then turned his head to look at Julian and said while evilly laughing

"Now, shall we talk?"