When Corey and Pamela first encountered Princess Ecles, they had asked her why she left her home, and Ecles' response was...

"I left because of a beautiful butterfly."

Corey and Pamela eventually knew that the butterfly Ecles was a red butterfly, and that both Ecles and the red butterfly had strangely being able to get past the guards and leave the underground city of the Silver Elves.

Although it was strange, nobody thought too much about it. Even Corey did not think too much about the suspicious parts of it all.

That is... until Corey saw a red butterfly while Pamela was fighting for her life.

The butterfly was extremely easy to ignore, and sometimes, it even appeared as an illusion. But Corey found it strange.

Very strange and worrisome.

He found it very strange because there was little to no surviving living organism in the world tree's realm aside from him and the others.

There was the possibility that some insects and very small animals survived because they were lucky and were also at the edge of the realm.

However, the possibility was extremely low. Very, very, very low.

The battles that took place were so destructive that the very air itself was now difficult for a Tier 0 to survive in. The air was filled with the dense quantity of everybody's mana combined together.

And everybody that was involved in the battle was talented and special in their own ways.

So, for a Tier 0 butterfly to still be alive when a Tier 0 human would struggle to survive?

It was close to impossible. But still possible.

However, what truly put Corey off and worried him was the colour of the butterfly.

If he had not encountered the Clown and suffered because of him, he might have ignored it and not thought anything of it.

At first, Corey wanted to ignore the butterfly, but then he recalled that the butterfly that made Ecles to leave her home and eventually get kidnapped was a red butterfly.

And there it was... Another red butterfly.

Coincidence? Corey did not think so.

When Corey left Divine and the others, he had first of all teleported to the butterfly and caught it before it could react.

He created another void crystal and kept it inside. Although he had the urge to inspect it, his urge to see Anna was greater back then.

It was after he spoke to Anna to a great length and was relieved that her condition had gotten better, that he told his Stars of Consciousness to inspect the butterfly in the void crystal through his Eyes of Omniscience.

Unsurprisingly, what he discovered was what he had expected.

"Sweetie!"

Corey watched as Ecles' eyes widened in surprise and joy at the appearance of the red butterfly.

She was about to leave her mother and take the butterfly away from him, but Corey shook his head and pulled his hand back.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Ecles' asked with a confused expression, and Corey looked at Rosa.

"Rosa. Can you please inspect this butterfly? I believe it's being controlled by The Clown."

Everybody's expression instantly changed the moment they heard the words- "The Clown".

The change was so sudden, and the way they looked at the tiny and seemingly harmless butterfly was one of immense wariness and a tinge of fear.

Ecles, Kiefer, Selene, and Willow had baffled expressions and did not understand why everybody was so tense and solemn.

"What's wrong with Sweetie?"

"Are you serious, Corey? The Clown?" Jeremy asked with an extremely solemn expression, and Corey nodded without looking at him.

"I believe so. I just want Rosa to confirm it since she knows the Clown better than me."

Rosa stood before Corey with a severe expression. She looked at the butterfly which was frozen in time.

Rosa's eyes flickered when she saw that Corey had frozen time around the butterfly, but she didn't make a comment on it. She took the butterfly in her hands, and then her eyes flashed with a crimson glow.

The butterfly trembled despite Corey freezing time, but Corey's expression remained calm.

After a few minutes, the crimson glow in Rosa's eyes vanished.

She looked at Corey with the same expression, but compared to before, it was not so serious.

"You're right. It's The Clown."

Gasps were released from the others, and they took defensive stances while prepping their bodies for another battle.

But, Rosa continued speaking.

"It's The Clown, but it's nothing serious. He did not transform into this butterfly and he can't use this butterfly to battle. He's only using it to watch and hear us, and I believe he's doing that even now."

Everybody blinked, and then they looked at the crimson butterfly with a frown. Their expressions eased up and tensed bodies relaxed, but they were still worried and careful.

That was just how bad they feared having to battle the Clown once again.

"Are you sure the butterfly won't suddenly transform into the Clown?" Queen Nerith asked with a concerned frown as she stared at the crimson butterfly with a more serious expression than the others.

Despite hearing Rosa say that the butterfly was harmless, her mind was on something else.

'Ecles recognized the butterfly.' The worry in her eyes increased.

"The butterfly can't transform into The Clown." Rosa assured everybody once again, and some released sighs of relief.

Corey looked at Ecles. "You recognize this butterfly, right? You called it Sweetie?"

Ecles looked at the frozen butterfly, and then she shifted her gaze to Corey.

She nodded slightly. "I do. It was because of Sweetie I left home. I was chasing after it but I couldn't catch it. Did it do something bad?"

Ecles looked around with a truly confused expression, and Corey smiled at her and ruffled her hair softly.

"It didn't. It's just somebody else that did something bad."

"Oh." Ecles nodded her head in an attempt to show that she understood, but she truly didn't.

Meanwhile, Corey looked at Queen Nerith who was also looking at him with a solemn expression.

"He's the reason your daughter was captured. I don't know why he wanted a war between you guys and us, but you have to be careful and watchful. Since he appeared before Ecles with this butterfly, it's safe to say that he probably found a way to enter your city a long time ago."

Queen Nerith inhaled deeply. "I know. I'll be very careful and make sure nothing happens to any of my children and people."

Corey nodded. "That's good then."

Corey was about to turn around, but Queen Nerith suddenly spoke.

"Thank you by the way... For everything."

Corey looked at her, and then he gave her a small smile. "It's fine. Besides, I gained far more than I expected because I came here."

Corey looked at everybody.

He looked at Jeremy.

He looked at Elizabeth.

He looked at Caesar.

He looked at Mathias.

He looked at Thalos.

He looked at Ecles.

He looked at Kiefer.

He looked at Selene.

He looked at Willow.

He looked at Pamela in the distance.

He looked at Rosa.

And then he looked at Anna.

'I might not see most of you for many years to come after we leave this place.'

Everybody wondered why he looked at all of them, but he only smiled in response to their words.

He looked at Anna and Rosa. "Let's go. It's time to leave this place."

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{END OF VOLUME 3- BOOK OF DEATH}

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