Life Hunter

Because of the bell"s influence, almost every magic was being halted during its activation. But it didn"t matter for both Arima and Layla. They simply used their bodies to fend off every weapon and would launch a dragon"s breath together from time to time.

Thanks to the Resonance, both of them went through a huge increase in strength and their teamwork was also as perfect as you could expect it. It felt like they were a single person with two different bodies. Even Arima"s doppelgangers couldn"t be more synchro than that.

The timing of their attacks was always on point. If any of them had to block one of the giant weapons, he would catch it directly and stop it in its advance. He would then tilt it sideways for the other to blow it away. Afterward, the one who was holding the weapon would take care of the weapons behind the other.

It was happening with so much accuracy and speed that you could barely see it. It continuously happened and even Fafnir was getting a headache from witnessing all of this.

After only a few minutes, both Arima and Layla had already reached Fafnir"s body "d.a.m.nit" Fafnir clicked his tongue and waved his hand. All of his shields appeared to protect him like an impenetrable carapace.

A golden fire then erupted from gaps between the shields and produced an explosion which blew the dragons away. But it was only for a single second and the two helped each other to move out of the area.

They then inhaled and spat out a huge wave of dark and silver fire which clashed with Fafnir"s golden flames. The three dragons roared and an even bigger explosion shrouded s.p.a.ce and a few planets around.

Arima and Layla were pushed back but Fafnir"s defense also broke. The golden dragon"s eyes flashed with anger and he teleported just behind Layla. He then raised Excalibur and swung it vertically at incredible speed.

But Layla didn"t even look back and his sword was blocked by Arima"s claws. The latter smirked and kicked Fafnir"s weapon away. He then took a stance and taunted his opponent while Layla joined him too.

Fafnir"s expression twitched. He threw away his swords and also prepared for a barehanded fight. The two sides had an extreme difference in size and physical strength but they were still going to fight with their fists.

Layla"s eyes flashed and it was the signal for Arima to move out. He flapped his wings and reached the golden dragon"s neck. Fafnir snorted, he tilted his head and shifted his neck with it. He then used his tail to strike Arima, who blocked it with a side defense.

Layla arrived just after and tried to attack the dragon"s temple but Fafnir blocked her with his palm easily. Arima moved next and he went all out as he deflected Fafnir"s tail with one punch.

Fafnir"s eyes widened and flapped his wings to spin. He used that movement to kick Layla and punch Arima. The former escaped like she knew it was going to happen and the latter met the golden dragon"s punch with his own.

The two surprisingly canceled each other. Fafnir"s eyes narrowed and he continued to a.s.sault the "small" dragon in front of him. But each one of his attacks was being countered by the same move. Meanwhile, Layla kept bothering him as she flew around and attacked him from time to time when he expected it the least.

She managed to land a few hits but each one of them didn"t do almost any damage; to the point, Fafnir came to ignore her. Arima smirked when he saw that and continued his little "game" for a minute before suddenly charging toward Fafnir.

He also took a slight curve and went toward the giant dragon"s right side. Fafnir frowned and tried to teleport but his pupils shook when he noticed he had not moved. He had forgotten about it. About the girl who could restrain his movements.

In the end, Arima reached his destination and attacked Fafnir"s right side; his arm, and his ribs. The golden dragon was confused but he still moved his body to counter him. But when the giant tried to move, his muscles suddenly contracted and he was not able to move further. Fafnir"s expression revealed the shock he suffered as Arima violently pounded his right side.

Fafnir did his best to protect himself but his entire right side was numb and he couldn"t move it as he wanted. He then recalled how the other dragon had attacked him, solely on his right half. He rolled his eyes at Layla to see her smirking at him.

He glared at her but soon was forced to recede as his scales broke and blood flowed down because of Arima. He immediately stopped thinking about using his physical ability and was about to invoke his weapons when Arima abruptly raised his strength above its limits again and moved at high speed.

He arrived right in front of Fafnir"s torso and stared at the place where he had seen the cursed gold before "[Terminus Confractus, CD] (400)" Arima"s body cried in pain. He brought his right fist to his waist and punched with all of his strength.

"[Fourth White Art, Lower-Layer, Imago Autem Bunraku] (Strings of Bunraku)" He chanted at the same time and white strings infiltrated Fafnir"s body through his injuries.

The golden dragon coughed blood which stained his shining scales and was sent flying toward a near planet. He crashed on the ocean and a circular tide was immediately created.

Fafnir returned to the surface in rage but his body suddenly stopped moving as he was about to fly away. He couldn"t do anything as his body fell backward and floated on water "What…" He was both scared and thunderstruck.

The water came back just after and swept over him. When Arima and Layla arrived, the golden dragon had already been pushed back to the sh.o.r.e and was now resting immobile on the sand.

"What did you do?!" Fafnir shouted the moment he saw Arima coming down. The latter landed on Fafnir"s body and sighed as he sat down.

He grabbed something from his storage and threw it in the air. It was giant candy which he took inside his mouth. Layla chuckled as she returned to her human form. Arima was also returning to his original appearance as a dragon.

They ended the resonance. Fafnir"s expression fell. This meant that they deemed this fight to be over. He was overwhelmed with both shame and anger. He tried to summon his weapons but they didn"t come to him. In fact, he could even see some of them falling on this planet like meteorites. They had lost their owner and were now deriving in s.p.a.ce.

Arima looked up with difficulty. Just this small movement brought him great pain. Layla worriedly looked at him and tried to heal him as much as she could "Now there"s a great treasure deriving in s.p.a.ce" He muttered "I"m sure people will fight for it" He added and looked at Fafnir with a smile "Even you"

The golden dragon sneered and contracted his muscles. His body trembled a little but he failed to stand up or move "You"re wasting your time"

"You were weak enough so I infiltrated your body with the "Strings of Bunraku". Normally, I could even control you, but you"re too big for that. I can just restrain you" Arima said and Fafnir"s head dropped his head on the ground.

With that alone, a few hundred meters of land were destroyed "Are you telling me it"s over?"

"No" Arima responded "The Nibelungen gold will always make you stronger every time you die as long as you have enough pride and greed" He uttered and Fafnir sighed "So I will, of course, take out the gold from your body and seal the latter so that the former can"t use you again before Jorga can get rid of you"

Fafnir laughed "Do you think you can stop the Eye of Discord?"

"He said he will so I will believe him" Arima shrugged "I don"t have any other choice anyway" He added and glanced at Layla "Do it"

Layla nodded and brought Arima down from Fafnir"s body first. She was the one who was going to take out the gold and seal Fafnir. Arima was not in a good state for doing that after the Resonance while Layla had gained all the knowledge about the Kind Demon"s Arts.

She breathed in and jumped back on Fafnir"s body again. She approached his heart and stopped there "So it"s you who"s going to do it, huh?" The dragon muttered without even looking at Layla. He grunted "What a joke…" He then closed his eyes and fell silent.

Layla extended her hand and chanted "[Fifth Destruction Art, Spatium Horti]" The dark blue sphere entered Fafnir"s body and reached his heart after a few seconds.

The sphere encapsulated the gold and came out again. It was really quick and simple since Fafnir"s defenses were all down.

Layla stared at the dark sphere with red flowers on it. The Nibelungen gold was already trying to break out. She breathed in again and closed her eyes as she started a new incantation.

"[Et pax aeternitatis] (Eternity and Peace)"

"[Pertransiri non possint attingit fines] (Unattainable horizons)"

The sky and the entire planet were already being covered by a bright hue of white. Absolutely everything was changing color.

"[Adumbravimus potes?] (Can you picture it?)"

"[In piam sinceramque vitam immortalitatis] (The ugliness of immortality)"

"[Non potestis audire?] (Can you hear it?)"

"[Vocationem mors est] (The call of Death)"

"[Potest senseris?] (Can you feel it?)"

"[In ictum vitae] (The stroke of Life)"

The ground which had turned white was now moving strangely. Almost like some sort of slime. It wasn"t only the ground, but also the rest of the planet, the water, the stone… everything was converging toward Fafnir. Enveloping him in a bright white coc.o.o.n.

"[Et dabo eas tibi] (I"ll give them to you)"

"[Vos mos somnus in aeternum] (You will sleep for eternity)"

"[Et immortalitatem, mors, vitae] (You will gain Immortality, Death, Life)"

Layla took Arima with her and flew away as Fafnir was getting covered by the planet itself.

"[First White Art, Perpetua Votum] (Everlasting Wish)" She chanted and the entire planet became a sort of slime which consumed Fafnir"s body. The white ma.s.s moved weirdly for a moment then turned into a giant white star with golden dots across its surface.

Fafnir was sealed for eternity and will continue to derive in s.p.a.ce for the same amount of time.