Life Hunter

Night was resting his back on the wall of a different building, looking at Arima from there. Karma was sitting right next to him.

They were the only people remaining on that planet at the moment. Malum even had taken the animals with the Second White Art. Jorga had already left but his eyes never stopped looking over the world.

Arima was just waiting. Waiting for the Pillars to arrive and the army to invade. Meanwhile, he was thinking. Wondering. Being told that there is someone out there who is meant to be the one who"ll end his life… is not that shocking for him. It doesn"t even bother him.

The only thing messing with his head is the fact that he is the reincarnation of an ancient power. He heard about it during his Life Judgement, Utain explicitly told him, even the old Jane back at the orphanage…

He heard "Ahriman". He was told he had had been birthed under that theory. Now, the wisest creature in this Reality defined him as a reincarnation, Angra Mainyu. An ancient evil spirit endowed with a human body and mind.

Then there was Ahura Mazda. Another high spirit, the creator and main G.o.d of the Zoroastrianism. He held both light and darkness in his hands, but the latter had been personified to become Angra Mainyu who then became a near equal to Ahura Mazda, thus his greatest enemy.

But in the end, Angra Mainyu lost. He was confined to his own realm where the demons he had created would devour each other and make the existence of the Destructive Spirit fade away.

Arima smirked as he recalled that legend "What will happen I wonder?" He laughingly muttered. He slowly opened his blind eyes and stood up. For a second, his left iris split in two, glowing red and gold.

He was pleased. Arima had no other words for what he was feeling. Since he heard the name "Ahura Mazda", something seemed to be resurfacing inside him. The more he thought about Ahura, the more he would become thrilled.

"I would like to meet the person who lives to kill me" Arima snickered and at the same time, spatial portals opened and some strange gates fell from the sky and crashed on the ground. Those gates seemed to be made out of simple dark wood but emanated a really strong presence.

When the doors opened, a loud horn resounded across Melumnia. Just after, a giant hand grabbed the frame of the gate which was the closest to Arima. Then, a blue-skinned giant emerged. Arima observed him quickly "(The same race as Errastas…)"

Through the same gate, dozens of giants started coming out while countless ghouls, and soldiers of all races were coming out of the others.

Night and Karma landed lightly beside Arima as if they had been here since the beginning. Soon after, the giants had surrounded Arima. They seemed to be very aware of his presence.

"Hey, the Crosses are not affecting them" Night uttered and Arima squinted his eyes.

"…Can you tell me if they have some sort of common sign or symbol on them?" Arima asked and Night complied as he knew that Arima couldn"t see. He scanned over a few hundred giants and a few thousand infantries then nodded.

"They have one. It"s a sort of eagle pattern. There"s pair of deployed wings with the silhouette of an old man coming out of the middle. The feathers of the bird"s tail seem to depict the clothing of that same figure. The giants have it tattoed on their skin while the others have it on their clothes"

Arima chuckled "That"s Ahura"s primary symbol. That explains why my Crosses are not affecting them"

"What do you mean?" Karma inquired without taking her eyes out from the army surrounding them.

"Take this as a sort of religion. My Crosses, like any other creed, channels faith. But my authority obliges people to put their faith on me. That"s what makes this Art powerful. But, there"s a simple way to prevent that" Arima said.

"You just have to expose another symbol in which you put your faith in. When your beliefs are already directed toward something or someone else, the Crosses won"t affect you" Arima listened to the absurd number of footsteps. The group of giants and the still growing army. He sensed two figures standing on thin air, not that far from them.

"I wonder who got this brilliant idea" Arima smirked while facing Harion and Dracula.

The former laughed "So you are that infamous Life Hunter, huh? I feel sorry for Raylein. I"m sure he could"ve never imagined that the human he had chosen would kill three Guardians upon his arrival on Melumnia" He couldn"t stop laughing. He was so engrossed and amused by the human who was standing on his way.

Next to him, Dracula was glaring at Arima. He, of course, was informed that Ambrogio had been killed. He didn"t know if he should be pleased or if he should be angry at Arima for killing one of the few kin he had in this Reality.

Arima cackled along with Harion "Yeah, I"m sure he didn"t. But at least, now he gained an even better a.s.set"

Harion abruptly stopped laughing and gravely looked at Arima "So? Can you tell me where they are?" He asked with a dark tone "I cannot believe the Guardians deliberately abandoned Melumnia. Well, at least, I"m sure that Ambrogio would"ve never left it to the enemies"

"I ordered them to leave" Arima retorted and Harion grinned.

"Fascinating. So, I can a.s.sume that you"re their new leader. Did you become the First Guardian?"

"No. I will never"

"What?" Harion scowled "That means you still didn"t meet the Original G.o.d to receive his blessing?"

"Blessing?" Arima snorted and waved his hand. A strange aura which couldn"t be described with your senses alone manifested around him "Are you talking about this?"

Harion and Dracula frowned while the army below them even stepped back a little before falling silent "This thing is what I collected from the Guardian" souls. I a.s.sume it"s the Original G.o.d"s "blessing". If I absorb it, I will be able to reach incredible heights. But in return," Arima"s sigil spun once and the odd aura instantly became overbearing and restrictive. As it wanted to consume everything. Its true nature was revealed.

"In return, I would lose my freedom and most important of all, I would be indebted to some intangible existence for the power it gave to me" Arima sneered "Why the h.e.l.l would I do that?"

"Well, you"d tell me; I could heal my eyes with this and even use Laws a lot more easily. But don"t f.u.c.k with me" Arima released his own aura and the other one was immediately obliterated "I won"t go that low"

Harion gazed at Arima incredulously then began laughing again "Hahaha, you"re too funny" Dracula clicked his tongue as his a.s.sociate was being a bit too loud.

"Seriously though," Harion grinned "If you are the Original G.o.d"s enemy, why don"t you just join us?"

Arima shrugged "Because I also am the Original Devil"s enemy. Additionally, your leader may have some other plans for me"

Both Dracula and Harion reacted weirdly at the mention of their leader "What do you mean?"

"Nothing much" Arima evasively replied and Harion had lost any kind of amus.e.m.e.nt on his face.

"What are you supposed to do then? By staying here and talking to us? Do you want to die?"

"As if" Arima snickered "I"m here to kill you all"

Harion mockingly snorted "Do you actually think you can beat us? The moment Afriose arrives, you"ll be dead. Don"t even make me mention Ambor and Lady Ahura"

"Well, maybe yes, maybe not" Arima cracked his neck "But in any case," He pointed at the two Pillars with his index "I"ll get rid of you two for now"

Harion"s eyes narrowed threateningly "Kill him!" He and Dracula shouted at the same time.

The hundreds of giants jumped and brought their fists down on Arima"s group. They were all at least in the third divine.

Just before Arima"s figure was covered by the barrage of attacks and the resultant dust, Harion saw his eyes glow in red along with the two people at his side. He shivered unconsciously and after only a single blink, he witnessed the heads of at least fifty giants slowly sliding off and falling on the ground in a pool of blood.

"Come on, let"s start" Arima"s voice resounded everywhere and the dead giants were blown away by a devastating shockwave. The Kind Demon was standing there with his black robe and cold expression. He lifted the fully unsealed Karma and pointed it at Harion and Dracula.

"Get ready" He declared and made a step forward. The ground shook and thunder roared. The clouds condensed in the sky and purple lightning started to fall.

Arima kicked the ground and appeared on one of the giants" shoulder. He pointed Superore at his head and fired without looking. The giant died quickly as his brain matter showered the smaller beings.

Arima seemed to repel blood as it evaporated before touching him. He grabbed the giant from the shoulder and planted his fingers. He flapped his wings and threw the whole ten-kilometers-tall body into a large group of ghouls and other soldiers. A huge sonic boom echoed when Arima threw the corpse and a wind pressure followed. Razing the city below.

While the giant"s body was flying, a dark magic circle appeared on his back. Arima snapped his fingers and the corpse exploded when it touched the ground. As if it was a grenade. Everyone in the radius of the explosion died in the flames.

Arima had simply disrupted the life force inside the body with the life hunt and made it go berserk. Ultimately, the vessel burst and caused that detonation.

All of that had happened in less than a second. When the giant exploded, Arima had already disappeared and you could hear roars from everywhere. Heads were being thrown into the sky while lightning was annihilating a large part of the army.

The screams could be heard from any direction. As if Arima was rampaging in every location of this battlefield. But he was actually nearing Dracula and Harion at an insane speed. And on his path, many would die and their corpses would explode to take even more lives.

While watching that, even Harion and Dracula broke in a cold sweat. Of course, their forces were not that strong. They could not compare to a Guardian level existence at least. But the fact that Arima had killed tens of thousands of soldiers so quickly, to the point they could only watch, was terrifying.

Whilst Arima was charging toward them, they could hear the bones cracking with each sword swing, the flesh burning with each explosion and lightning, and the blood splashing on the ground.

In the end, there was only one outcome possible for them "(What the f.u.c.k is this speed?! How is he this strong?!)" Harion shouted in his mind. He had the right to be shocked. Without even using the Final Resonance or resonating with Layla, Arima had traveled tens of miles while decimating their army to reach him and Dracula. During that time, they had only managed to get enough time to cross their arms.

Arima"s figure appeared in front of them and his grinning face was engraved in their memory. They saw the dark red blade coated with lightning coming toward them.

"[Fifth Cryptic Art, Aeterna, Orion]" After that, they only saw black and red lights. Lightning burned and attacked their bodies. They almost fell unconscious then heard a light and eerie laugh piercing their mind and soul.