Life Hunter

"What"s going on?" Gabriel mumbled.

"I don"t know" Michael responded.

"There"s something wrong" Azes suddenly said "He shouldn"t be that strong just after the Life Judgement. I"m not sure, but I think his life force level is only the second divine"

"The how do you explain this?" Zeus retorted.

Azes shook his head "At first, I only thought that it was because he had become the "Kind Demon". A powerhouse in the same category as a G.o.d. But it seems I was wrong. It"s not only that. From what I"m seeing right now, Arima has a lot of experience. A tremendous amount of it. Even more than me" He said and Zeus frowned.

"Life Hunters become stronger by absorbing the different versions of themselves. We can a.s.sume Arima did the same. And that"s the problem. I don"t know how he did it but," Azes paused and looked at Arima fighting "He managed to a.s.similate the knowledge and experience of his other versions"

"What?" Michael and Zeus exclaimed at the same time.

"What do you mean? Isn"t that the same for every Life Hunter?" Aphrodite was perplexed.

"Are you crazy?" Zeus snapped at her "If all Life Hunters were like this, they would have never gone extinct. If that"s true, that guy a.s.similated billions of years of lifetime. Not only his experience, his techniques, knowledge, magic theory... they all went up by several levels" He said and Aphrodite closed her mouth.

Gabriel looked around and most of the devils had been apprehended or killed. Mostly thanks to Arima"s zombies which could also create undead by killing people. A really scary magic indeed.

It was also because Vastra died that they could overpower the devil side since the people she controlled lost their strength all of sudden. Now, the only people remaining to defeat are the four Arima is fighting and Hades up there.

"…This is quite annoying" Baphomet muttered as he straightened his fuming body.

"It sure is…" Lucifer responded while he was in the same condition.

Beelzebub just snorted as he regenerated.

Asmodeus joined them just after in a really bad state since he took full powered lighting in the face.

Although these four were not really friends or allies in any way, they realized one thing. Arima couldn"t be beaten by any of them.

Their only chance was to cooperate. Baphomet sneered and kicked the ground with his sword over his shoulder. His muscles bulged and his speed and strength raised to another level.

His dark magic gathered around his weapon and he swung it at Arima. Lucifer also boosted Baphomet with his own magic and prepared to attack Arima directly. Meanwhile, Beelzebub and Asmodeus were surprisingly waiting.

To counter Baphomet"s attack, Arima did something that not only shocked his opponents but also the G.o.ds watching.

He simply bent his body. Not only once or twice. His body bent in different ways as Baphomet kept swinging his sword at him. Arima had closed his eyes and was avoiding the strikes with perfect movements.

The Evil G.o.d was gritting his teeth. No matter how good his timing was, how fast he was, how accurate he could be, his attack always missed as if the time slowed each time to help Arima.

"Is that time magic?" Gabriel questioned with a solemn tone.

"No" Azes answered. He was the one with the most understating of time among them "He"s not using Time magic at all. All of this is…"

"Martial arts" Michael finished for him "What he"s doing right now is just pure body control. He reached the peak. Every move he makes are devoid of any useless motions. And he reached a mind-blowing level right now. If he wanted, maybe he could fight Baphomet with only one hand" He explained.

As if to prove his words, Arima suddenly grabbed Baphomet"s sword barehanded "[Terminus Confractus, CC] (Limit Break, 200)" He chanted and Baphomet immediately tried to take back his sword.

But it wouldn"t even budge. His eyes faltered but he took a decision in the blink of a second. He released the handle of his sword and placed his palms on the ground.

The earth cracked and a black fog escaped from the fissures. The next instant, it exploded into a large pillar of dark energy. Inside it, Arima"s eyes widened a little before he kicked Baphomet out of this pillar.

Lightning burst out of his body and broke Baphomet"s magic. He then was struck by the dark-light that Lucifer was preparing. Black and white spheres formed around him to form a circle around him.

Arima was about to swing Karma to destroy them, but he was a tad late. They all fell on the ground and exploded in a devastating way.

The earth shook and the sound it produced shook h.e.l.l. Arima was struck by the magic and a whistling noise entered his ears. He crossed his arms and then tried to get out by flapping his wings. But he then saw Asmodeus and Beelzebub among this chaos of magic, completely fine, charging toward him.

"(Dark-light can accurately choose its targets…I see)" Arima thought and blocked Beelzebub"s punch with Karma. Causing the energy around to recede a little before it came back. In a strange way, it was like being in water but just that you were attacked by it.

Arima clicked his tongue and outside of this discharge of dark-light, the skies lightened up and lightning started falling, ma.s.sively, on Lucifer"s magic. Normally, Arima shouldn"t be able to use magic in this condition. But his control over Ragnarök was definitive and cognitive.

He then deviated Beelzebub"s huge fist and cut his head off one more time before kicking him away. He then blocked Asmodeus"s sword with his tail one more time. He then put Superore over his shoulder and aimed behind him. The muzzles flashed with a black and purple light, Asmodeus was carried by the plasma out of the explosion. He also suffered grave injuries and retreated just after.

Arima then released his aura to give him some leeway. It felt like Lucifer"s magic would never stop.

"[Abscondere tu in ob.u.mbratio] (You hide in the shadows)" He started chanting. A pitch-black mist, which absorbed every light touching it, emerged from Arima"s shadow.

"[Vos carnes edere, et privavit illas vitae suae] (You eat their flesh and rob them of their life)"

"[Est tempus ad crescere fortius et devoret] (It"s time for you to grow stronger and consume)"

The black mist suddenly expanded and pierced through the dark-light magic until it became a sort of fountain on top of it.

Lucifer looked at it with narrowed eyes. The dark mist turned even bigger and covered Lucifer"s magic completely. Not a single millimeter of black or white energy could be seen anymore. Only the giant shadow that Arima created.

While Lucifer was staring at that shadow, he suddenly lost his connection with his magic. Like it had been dispelled against his own will.

"[Fourth Destruction Art, Vashta Nerada]" Arima chanted quietly inside of that a.s.sembly of magic. After a moment, the shadow disappeared and Lucifer"s magic had completely been consumed.

"Vashta Nerada"s hidden effect was to consume anything, even magic.

Arima was now standing in the middle of the crater caused by the huge attack. He snorted and pointed Superore at the sky. He fired and Baphomet had to use another sword technique to block it. He dropped the idea of charging and retreated.

Arima sighed and the small cuts and injuries he had on his body closed immediately "Immortality?" Baphomet was shocked.

"Not really" Arima rolled his eyes at him "I"m already dead" He responded. And it was the truth, Arima"s death form had also been used to create the Kind Demon after all.

"Anyway, it"s time to end this farce" Arima declared and his muscles tensed "[Accelerans]" He chanted and vanished. Just like that. Without any mana fluctuation, lightning, or anything else.

He just vanished and reappeared next to Baphomet. With a short metallic sound, he instantly beheaded him. The swing of his sword created a powerful shockwave and the dust raised from the ground. He then conjured "Aeterna" which blasted the entire zone.

Lucifer realized something bad was happening and used as much mana as he could to protect himself. His luck worked out since Arima"s blade was stopped a millimeter away from his neck.

Arima"s eyes didn"t show any unrest and he just chanted another magic as a white light gathered in his hand.

"[Et oblinito facta es] (You were made to seal)"

"[Et factum est ligatus cincinno] (Made to bound and lock)"

"[Prohibere ad reprimendum] (Made to restrain and prohibit)"

"[Monstra te statim ultra regula] (Show your rule once more)"

"[Fourth White Art, Upper-Layer, Digillum Aeterna]" Arima activated his Art. His sigil glowed and huge chains emerged from his body, then from the ground, to tightly bind Lucifer. His magic could defend him from attacks. But sealing magic was something he couldn"t defend himself from if he didn"t move or counter.

Lucifer howled. The chains grew in number and then locked him in a sort of white coc.o.o.n. Arima exhaled a blue mist and then disappeared one more time, he reappeared above Asmodeus and fired Superore at full power.

The pillar created by the bullets shrouded Asmodeus and destroyed his body and soul. After that, Arima gritted his teeth. He gathered his strength and used his Time magic once more.

His figure one more time transferred to another place. He arrived in front of Beelzebub who had just recovered his head "[Limit Break, CCC] (Limit break, 300)" He forced his body again. At that level, his bones were under the risk of breaking.

He used that to overpower Beelzebub who had just healed and then forced him to make eye contact "A huge quant.i.ty of essence and soul is always easier for me" Arima smirked "[Fifth Black Art, Penitentia conspiciunt]"

Beelzebub"s eyes convulsed and his eyes turned like a stone after a minute. Arima then sighed and coughed some blood. It was the repercussion of using Time magic so much "(Well, it"s going to heal soon anyway)" Arima thought and jumped off Beelzebub"s body while retrieving the life force.

He then put a lollipop in his mouth and casually started walking. The candy surprisingly suited his actual appearance, although it provoked a sort of conflict in the minds of everyone watching.

The G.o.ds also stared at him, not only with shock but also with fear. They never witnessed such overwhelming strength.

Arima casually licked his lollipop as he made his way toward Baphomet who was already standing up. His head had been reattached and was completely fine. But his eyes showed how much he was shaken when he looked at Arima.

"Let"s see… your Manifestation is really something" Arima remarked as he was walking "You won"t die no matter how many times I kill you. It"s quite different from me. I have third-degree immortality. I can heal anything, even a head or a heart. But I die when I don"t have enough mana" He explained and everyone clearly heard his voice.

"You are different. You possess first-degree immortality since the beginning. Although your regeneration can get weaker as you use it. You will never actually die since you don"t need mana to survive. And now, your Manifestation not only keeps your regeneration strong but also gives you back your mana each time you die" Arima shook his head and sighed.

He stopped walking and looked at Baphomet "You sure are an immortal" He smiled and said.

Baphomet"s expression twitched "…What"s your point?"

"Nothing much, I just wanted to talk a bit" Arima shrugged and he extended his hand. A blue flame ignited above his palm. It wasn"t emitting any heat. Baphomet"s eyes narrowed as he saw that flame.

"Let me show you why I chose the color Blue when I chose the name of this category" Arima uttered and grinned.