Melumnia started shaking uncontrollably. The animals cowered and the inhabitants who were still alive, or even still on this planet, all suffered the worst fear of their lives.
Even the Guardians wore anxious and troubled expressions. The aura emanating from Arima was not something banal. A new Guardian-level existence had appeared. But the most shocking part was that it actually wasn't a Plane Guardian, but merely a human who climbed his way up by robbing the life force of his enemies.
Arima slowly stood up and pointed his hand at where Victor had died. A colorless energy instantly came to him and doubled his aura.
Flavio frowned. “Does he have no limit? It shouldn’t be possible for someone, Life Hunter or not, to absorb so much power at once. He should have died already…”
Night sighed and turned back into a gray-haired human. He grunted and stood up along with Karma. Both of them closed their eyes and began to assimilate that power as well.
"…Hey, slow down," Night complained and Arima snickered before lowering his aura.
He looked up and saw the giant serpent's head coming out of the blue mist. "I know, Jorga," he uttered and the World Serpent rolled his eyes. "How long?" Arima inquired.
"Ten minutes," Jorga answered and his voice reached everyone.
"Ten minutes?" Aergia frowned and wondered what they were talking about. Raylein was having a headache and sitting down in a corner, brooding. The fact that he was the one who brought Arima here was tormenting him.
"Well, it's gonna be the busiest ten minutes of my life," Arima jested and teleported next to Layla and Malum. "It's all right now. Prepare the incantation of the Second White Art for me while I deal with them."
Malum huffed and his body shrunk. His scales stopped floating and stuck to his body again as some flesh reappeared on it. Then, the scales regained their color before merging with the flesh. In the end, a handsome man with pale skin and purple eyes was standing there, dressed in plain clothes and a leather jacket. His hair was shining white compared to Night.
Malum opened and closed his fists in repetition and mused. "Fascinating. It's technically the first time I control a body made of flesh and blood," he commented and Arima sighed.
"I still don't know if I should have given you a body. I had to seal the Third White Art forever to do that," he shook his head and Malum snorted.
"Why are you worrying about that now?" He retorted. "It's not like I will do anything at this point and I’m definitely more useful than a clone."
Arima shrugged then saw Layla glaring at him. He forced a cough. "What's wrong?"
"What was it this time?" Layla asked severely and Arima's expression twitched. He stretched his neck and turned his head away instinctively.
"…memories."
Layla dubiously stared at him. "Can you use the memories you stole from others?"
"…No. But you know that I have many different lives that I can pick from."
She sighed in relief. "Then it’s good"
"Well, it's true that it's the less expensive Law to use for Arima. But normally, no one should be able to have so many ‘genuine’ memories like him. On the other hand, the Law of Continuity takes a huge toll on one’s soul and body," Night remarked when he arrived with Karma.
"Hey, hurry up!" Jorga's voice resounded again. Arima smiled wryly and looked at Shiva and Shakti. He relocated near the two of them and dragged them together in less than a second.
"Killing you now without saying anything would be pretty awkward and cruel on my end. So, we'll do it like this," Arima said and the two Guardians stared at him. Shiva had a dark countenance and a creased forehead.
"If you deserve to die, you'll die," he added and everyone failed to understand.
Even the Guardians who had approached them to hear more clearly were perplexed. Arima snorted and crouched in front of Shakti. "You'll be first then," he muttered and she shivered. He was staring at her in the eyes.
She knew that those silver eyes couldn't see, but she couldn't help to feel like they were piercing through her every secret.
‘I still have some strength… I may be able to get away once. But…’ She peeked at Jorga who was looking at them from the sky. ‘The World Serpent seems to be a friend of his. I won't be able to escape his sight.’
"Don't worry," Arima's voice abruptly cut her thought process. "If you have nothing to blame, you won’t risk anything."
He covered his eyes with his hand for a second then Shakti watched as his pupils started to literally burn. Pure and perfect orange flames were ignited. As she unconsciously admired them, it was transmitted to her. She fell into a trance as those flames filled her entire mind.
"[Fifth Black Art, Penitencia Conspiciunt]."
Shakti felt her spirit and soul being probed by a soothing presence. She even thought it was kind of pleasant. Then she oddly recalled some old and regretful events of the past. But they were all reduced to nothing by the fire.
Arima squinted his eyes and backed away.
"Splendid. Impressive even," he praised and helped her to stand up. Shakti looked at him with a strange look. She was then told to join the other Guardians and she didn't dare to refuse.
"Your turn," Arima stated as he walked toward Shiva.
"…What was that supposed to be?" The latter asked and Arima smiled.
"You'll understand soon," he replied and Shiva gritted his teeth. A cold vapor surrounded him and he decisively cast a large-scale spell in his last struggle. He jumped back and Arima didn't even bother to stop him.
"[Cocytus]," he intoned and a huge magic circle formed in front of him. He was preparing that magic since the moment he had been punched by Malum.
The magic formation produced a blinding light and the temperature fell again. A roar echoed and a wingless dragon made of ice emerged from the circle. It soared through the sky before plunging in Arima's direction at great speed.
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"So, you made your choice, huh?" Arima said coldly and extended his hand. When the ice dragon touched his palm, a purple light illuminated the earth and the sky. The entire dragon became a sort of purple liquid that merged with his body.
Shiva laughed when he saw that.
"So that's why you overpowered us so easily. You can absorb it," his mouth was laughing but his eyes were not. He was already preparing a non-elemental magic.
"You got most of it," Arima uttered and the same circle Shiva had drawn earlier appeared in front of him. The Guardian's eyes narrowed in fear.
"[Cocytus]," Arima said indifferently and the ice dragon came back. But the differences were clear. This new dragon was of a dazzling purple and it was at least three times bigger.
This magic, in its original form, had the power to easily destroy several planets. Now it could maybe eradicate around a fourth or even half of Melumnia.
"…fuck," Shiva cursed just before the dragon swallowed him and brought him into space. When it was high enough, the dragon roared and suddenly expanded. It turned into a giant sphere of ice.
After a moment, it imploded and many shards and fragments were lost in the void, Shiva included.
Shakti watched it happen with a very uneasy expression.
"Aren't you saddened by his death?" Malum asked out of the blue. He was preparing the Second White Art with Layla, as he was instructed by Arima, and happened to spot her from the corner of his eyes.
Shakti shook her head slowly. "It's not like I was that close to him… We were born from the spirituality of the same religion and had similar affinities. But we were not very close. At best, he was like a cousin…" She smiled wryly. "And as much as reluctant I am to say this; his death was caused by his foolishness."
Malum snickered and flicked his finger to complete the formation. He turned his head toward Arima. "Hey, we finished!"
"Keep it on standby, we'll use it soon," Arima said and reached out for a light blue sphere falling from the sky.
"Is that his life force?" Layla asked as she arrived next to him.
"Sort of," Arima uttered and grabbed the sphere with two hands. Then he pulled with both of them and the sphere split into two orbs, one was transparent and the other dark blue.
"Take this one," he tossed the transparent one to Layla and she tilted her head in confusion.
"That's his life force. I don't need it. It's not enough to strengthen me anymore. On the other, you need to power up a little," Arima enlightened her and she widened her eyes. She blinked and smiled happily.
"I won’t hold back then," she responded and pointed at the dark blue orb. "So, what is that one?"
"It's his life energy," Arima answered and his sigil glowed. An intricate circle formed above the orb he was holding. It slowly started spinning and producing black flames.
Layla's eyes widened when she recognized the runes.
Arima smiled. "I don't want to use my own after all," he added and Layla chuckled.
"Let's begin with the terrain," he declared and flew up. Layla went to everyone else and told them to get some altitude and distance themselves from the ground.
"[Ragnarök, Aversa Pars] (Reverse)."
Arima chanted and the deformed and devastated landscape began to change. The crevasses closed, the stone returned underground, the large volume of dug-out soil returned to its original place before being flattened.
Then it started to rain and small burgeons grew around the place. It only took a few seconds for the trees and the grass to grow back. Afterward, a large number of microscopic particles gathered together to form different shapes.
The first thing that was created was a fancy castle, with tall towers and a pretty inner garden. Then the rest followed. A few mansions appeared too, some smaller houses, modern and primitive alike, seemed to just materialize out of nowhere. It continued like that until the portion of the planet that had been wrecked had been completely repaired.
Ganesha whistled and Aergia groaned thinking about all the work it would've needed her to do the same. Shakti was staring at Arima during the entire time. At first, she was quite scared and put off by him, and that's why she had voted against his integration. Even now, she still was. But at least, she now saw him as someone who was rather kind and compassionate. Especially so when she identified the runes on the magic formation above Shiva's life energy.
Arima lifted that same orb and released his aura one more time.
"[Fifth Forbidden Art, Phoenix Tenebris]," he chanted and a loud shriek followed before a majestic dark phoenix deployed its wings in front of him.
"Here," Arima murmured and handed the orb to the Phoenix. The legendary bird lowered its head and gobbed the orb before swallowing it. Arima patted it and it flew off before plunging toward the ground. It phased through it and a second screech resounded.
Afterward, flames were ignited and bathed the planet’s surface with dark fire. Within that fire, the bodies were being reconstituted and the souls recreated. After a minute or so, the fire was extinguished and the thirty billion or so individuals were brought back to life.
The Guardians watched silently. They were terrified, thankful, and shocked at the same time. They couldn’t blame Raylein for having tried to recruit someone with such an ability.
The Phoenix soon resurfaced returned to Arima.
"Go up, resurrect them all on a viable planet," he said and the Phoenix immediately complied and went into space to revive all those who died on the surrounding planets.
"Okay," Arima sighed satisfyingly and turned toward the Guardians, as well as his companions. He smiled widely. "Now get the hell out of this planet and bring everyone on it with you."
***
Meanwhile, the Planes finally aligned together and a straight line was reflected on Harion's eyes.