Chapter 679: Fame, Infamy, and the Unexpected
In the end, it took until the 23rd before Arthur could return to Aramis.
Both he and Evan were dragged over to Gozon’s Interstellar Citadel by Jamie, where they had an impromptu meeting with a small group of about a dozen Demon Kings all convened for one reason: the aftermath of the Infernal Dimension.
There, the two discovered that Jamie had taken the liberty of broadcasting the entire ordeal as a Reality TV show for deities across the galaxy.
When Arthur and Evan asked how Jamie had managed to pull that off, the man just laughed and said "I’ve got connections."
Connections, indeed—and influence that reached far and wide.
As a ’Supreme’ Demon King, anything Jamie did was guaranteed to attract attention. And if that anything happened to involve Arthur, the rising star who was shaking up the Interstellar Stage despite still being Mortal? Well, curiosity was inevitable.
In a way, Jamie had helped Arthur spread his name far and wide.
Thanks to his meddling, his battles with Kagluk, Yujia, and Vonun in particular had garnered the attention of many.
The highlight? Arthur summoning a Beast of the END, a feat that had left even seasoned deities slack-jawed.
It was not that there weren’t better summoners than Arthur. It was the fact that the Beast of the END, though young, had listened to him.
The Infernal Devil King Miacav was just about the only known person who had a Beast of the END listening to him, and that was because he had raised it since it was a pup.
Jamie, ever the provocateur, couldn’t resist teasing him. Quoting him exactly:
"You’ve got their attention now, you know. The other Beasts of the END? They’re watching you. Have fun with that!"
Arthur had NO intention of finding that amusing.
In Arthur’s understanding, full-grown Beasts of the END were comparable to Typhon, the Monster King of Olympus—the same Typhon who had once defeated Zeus himself, even while the latter held the seat of Olympus’ Master.
The Valmone Universe naturally didn’t possess any END Beasts on that level, but conversely, they were a lot more in number.
Arthur got a headache just trying to factor them into his plans and potential responses for anyone who tried to approach him.
Still, Jamie’s stunt wasn’t without its benefits.
Those who still saw Arthur as just ’Devil King Lucifer’s Descendant’ were now beginning to recognize him as the ’Progenitor godslayer, Arthur’.
He enjoyed increments to both his power and Infamy, especially for his feat of achieving Transcendence at the age of 17.
Where in the Universe—no, where in the Cosmos could one find a 17-year-old Transcendent with FOUR Pseudo-Authorities?
Nowhere!
Arthur’s name was fast becoming synonymous with the impossible.
After the meeting with the Demon Kings concluded, Jamie, being Jamie, decided it was time for a party.
His chosen venue? Denerth Prime, where he invited all the cultivators who had participated in the chaotic Infernal Dimension saga.
Ironically, this was the very party Jamie had previously decided not to host, knowing full well it would devolve into chaos. After all, many of the attendees had been at each other’s throats during the ten weeks spent in the Infernal Dimension.
And did fights break out? Of course, they did.
Anticipating this inevitable outcome, Jamie devised a solution: the party would take place on a floating platform he conjured above the Denerth Sect’s famed fighting arena, a place where quarrels were practically tradition.
His reasoning was simple:
"Got beef? Take it downstairs."
With the three-day party’s end, Arthur and Evan were finally freed from Jamie’s clutches and could return to Aramis.
The trip itself took another three days, bringing them to their long-overdue destination on the 23rd of November
For Arthur, the return marked the end of an exhausting Chapter. But knowing Jamie, this was hardly the last time his ’connections’ and ’brilliant ideas’ would make a mess of things.
As for Evan, the boy was dead tired and had zero intention to touch his weapon for at least a month. He just wanted to rest.
◇ ◇ ◇
While Evan was busy planning his well-earned rest, Arthur had other priorities. His first stop after returning to Aramis was the Noble Baron Hotel in Gledea.
Upon arriving, the staff informed him that Rachel had visited multiple times during his absence.
One employee, in particular, seemed eager to share details, mentioning how irritated she had been on her second-to-last visit. The frustration Rachel carried then seemed to pale in comparison to her demeanour during her most recent stop.
"She looked... different. Like she had a lot on her mind—bottling it all up."
The receptionist said, their voice tinged with unease and Arthur sighed, assuming her frustration stemmed from his failure to keep their promised outing.
He couldn’t blame her for being upset. After all, he had missed it. But, as much as Rachel might not want to hear it, the circumstances were beyond his control.
His first instinct was to head straight to Sloklens to see her, but he decided against it.
The staff had shared other troubling news—the hotel would be shutting down soon. It seemed the escalating war had made its mark even here.
Seeking more clarity, Arthur went to the Mercenary Guild, only to find it nearly empty. The bustling hub he once knew was now eerily quiet.
Most of the mercenaries had been called to battlefronts, leaving only a handful behind. Still, the few present were enough to provide him with an update on the state of the war.
A war they had begun to dub the Final War.
Knowing that Alvey had been given an Ultimatum by the Demon King of Destruction, Arthur couldn’t help but feel that this was indeed the Final War.
Rising into the skies, Arthur surveyed the continent below, matching the scene to the maps etched in his memory.
The sight was bleak, for the Aramisians, of course. Before he left, they held half of Gledea under them, but now? Barely a third.
Arthur mapped out the formations and placement of soldiers, bypassing the Divinity barriers set to repel the demons like they weren’t even there and flying deeper into Aramisian territory to gain a greater understanding of their forces.
By the time he had finished mapping their positions in his mind, Arthur found himself lingering in the sky, now floating upside down with arms crossed.
His thoughts were elsewhere, thinking about his plans from here on out.
Since he wanted to exuviate before leaving Valmone, he was going to have to Level up rigorously from now on.
Despite the Aramisian-Demon War offering a steady stream of experience, Arthur felt it wasn’t going to cut it anymore.
"No, it’s more like a ’War’ isn’t the right stage for what I need. Too much collateral damage, too many chances for friendly fire.
I need some monster dominated realm where I can go wild without worrying about harming allies. I should have asked the Demon Kings..."
The boy spun his body upright and decided he was going to drop by on Gozon using the Cosmic Teleporter and ask any Demon King he encountered there.
Before that, though, he had unfinished business.
"Duskhand. Then I’d maybe see the war’s end, I guess."
Arthur had NOT forgotten about Duskhand.
It was because of the threat the man posed that Arthur had created Extreme Nothingness: Chaos in the first place, and Arthur definitely had to thank him for it—by killing him with it, of course.
His body had cooled down now, and he had zero issues wielding his power. The current Arthur was confident he could take on Duskhand.
"But he has the aid of the Aramisian god Rulers. They’re probably the ones who restored his arm when Alvey cut it off before. They also teleported him to save him too.
They might step in again if things start going south for him."
This problem, however, was one with a very easy solution.
"I’d have to get Jamie to serve as a deterrent for them. He owes me for the bullshit he pulled anyway."
Another thing added to his agenda for his trip back to Gozon.
His plans now settled, Arthur finally decided it was time to make good on another matter. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his communication device, the faintest trace of apprehension flickering across his features.
Rachel.
The girl whose appointment he’d missed and whose temper he’d surely stoked. The circumstances had been out of his control, but that didn’t make the prospect of the call any less daunting.
"Ah, she’s gonna be sooo pissed."
The boy laughed as he dialled her contact, floating upside down, thousands of feet above the clouds as he put the device on loudspeaker.
"Wait, that may not be a good ide—"
[...Arthur?]
The call connected before he could even finish, and Rachel’s voice coming from the other end was softer than he expected, almost... muted.
Taking a deep breath, the boy began speaking, his tone one of forced cheer.
"Rachel! Uh, about that outing we planned... Look, I can explain—"
She cut him off, her tone still strangely calm.
[Outing? Oh... right. I...almost forgot about that.]
Arthur blinked.
"You... forgot?"
She gave a light laugh, but there was no mirth in it.
[Yeah, I guess I did. It’s been... busy.]
Her voice sounded off—down, almost hollow—and Arthur immediately recalled what the receptionist had said about her bottling up emotions.
’Is she that pissed? No way, right? Then... did something else happen?’
The moment he had that thought, his tone switched up and he asked.
"Rachel, did something happen?"
Silence hung heavy on the line. He could hear her breathing, slow and deliberate, as though she were trying to steady herself.
"Rachel?"
[...I’m fine.]
Her voice cracked ever so slightly, and Arthur frowned.
"Where are you? I’ll head over now."
[NO!]
The force of her shout startled him, and for a moment, all he could hear was the echo of her voice. Then, softer, she added,
[Don’t. Please, don’t.]
"Rachel—"
[Can you just... wait? I’ve got a lot going on. I’ll call you in a few days, okay?]
Before he could press further, the line went dead. Arthur stared at the device in his hand, his mind racing.
For a moment, he was tempted to go to her anyway, to ignore her words and find out what was wrong. But before he could act, another call came through, pulling his attention.
Beatrix.
He sighed, accepting the call.
[Arthur! Where are you? I need to borrow some of those divinity crystals we got in Iklaque. The ones I have on me are too small.]
"What the hell are you even doing with them?"
[Well, it’s actually Arty who’s experimenting with her Evolution powers so...]
"Oh."
The mention of Artemisia’s experiment piqued his attention. He asked for their current location and headed towards them immediately, joining in Artemisia’s experiment.
It did end as a failure, but that wasn’t going to make Artemisia give up.
Arthur left her after a while, making his way south to Militopolis so he could see their side of the War.
