Life Hunter

Chapter 215: ''Get ready.''

Arima sat cross-legged on top of Melumnia's tallest building. The scenery was quiet and the suns were setting down. He was meditating under the orangish glow of the two stars orbiting around each other.

Night was leaning against the wall of a different building, looking at Arima from there with Karma 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 was 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 god 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 in his 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 it, the more thrilled he would become.

"I would like to meet the person who lives to kill me," he snorted and at the same time, spatial portals opened and several gates fell from the sky. Those gates seemed to be made out of simple dark wood but emitted 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 closest to Arima. Then, a blue-skinned giant emerged. Arima observed him quickly.

'The same race as Errastas'

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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 silently beside Arima as if they had been here since the beginning. Soon after, the giants had surrounded them. They seemed to be very aware of their 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?" He asked and Night complied as he knew that Arima couldn't see. He skimmed through a few hundred giants and a few thousand infantries then nodded.

"They have one. It's a sort of eagle insignia. 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 tattooed on their skin while the others have it on their clothes."

Arima chuckled. "That's Ahura's emblem. 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 in me. That's what makes this spell powerful and cruel, befitting of the Black Arts. But, there's an easy way to protect oneself from it."

"You merely need 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 while answering, the group of giants and the still-growing army. He sensed two figures standing in midair, a few miles away from them.

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

The former laughed. "So, you're that infamous Life Hunter, huh? I feel sorry for Raylein. I'm sure he could've never imagined that the human he had selected would kill three Guardians after coming to Melumnia," he couldn't help but laugh at the situation. 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 for the death of his only kin in this Reality.

Arima cackled along with Harion. "Yeah, I'm sure he didn't. But at least, now he gained an even better asset."

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 assume 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 God to receive his blessing?"

"Blessing?" Arima snorted and waved his hand. A strange aura that 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 is what I collected from the Guardians' souls. I assume this is what you're referring to with 'blessing'. If I assimilate it, I could probably reach incredible heights. But in return," Arima's sigil spun once and the odd aura instantly became overbearing and restrictive. As if it wanted to consume everything. Its true nature was revealed.

"In return, I would lose my freedom and my growth would be regulated. And most importantly, I would be indebted to some intangible existence for the power it gave me," Arima sneered. "Why the hell would I do that?"

"Well, you might say; I could heal my eyes with this and even use Laws more easily. Yeah, right. Don't fucking kid with me," Arima released his own aura, and the so-called 'blessing' was instantly obliterated. "I won't stoop so low."

Harion gazed at Arima incredulously then burst out laughing again. "Hahaha, you're too funny."

Dracula clicked his tongue as his associate was being too loud.

"Seriously though," Harion grinned. "If you're the Original God's enemy, why don't you just join us?"

Arima shrugged. "Because I also am the Original Devil's enemy. Additionally, your leader likely has 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 amusement on his face.

"What's your angle then? By staying here and chatting with us? Are you tired of living?"

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

Harion scoffed. "Do you actually believe you can beat us? The moment Afriose arrives, you'll be dead before you can even react. Don't even make me mention Ambor and Lady Ahura."

"Maybe, maybe not," Arima cracked his neck. "But in any case," he pointed at the two Pillars with his index. "For now, you two are the ones who should be worried."

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

The hundreds of giants leaped and brought their fists down on Arima's group. They were all at least at the Third Divine.

Just before Arima's figure was shrouded by the barrage of attacks and the resultant dust, Harion saw his eyes glow red along with the two people at his side. He shivered unconsciously and I the blink of an eye, he witnessed the heads of at least fifty giants slide off and falling on the ground in a pool of blood.

"Let's rock," Arima's voice resounded everywhere and the dead giants were blown away by a devastating shockwave. The Kind Demon emerged with his usual black robe and a chilling grin. 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 falling.

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

Arima grabbed the giant's shoulder and lodged his claw. He flapped his wings and flung the ten-kilometer-tall corpse into a large group of ghouls and soldiers. A huge sonic boom echoed when he threw it and the wind pressure that followed razed the city below.

While the giant's body was soaring, a dark-red magic circle appeared on its back. Arima snapped his fingers and it 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 corpse to make it go berserk. Ultimately, the vessel burst apart and caused that blast.

All of that had happened in less than a second. When the giant exploded, Arima had already disappeared and you could hear screams from every direction. Heads were being tossed in the sky while lightning annihilated a large chunk of the army.

Arima was rampaging in every location of the battlefield and approaching Dracula and Harion at an insane speed. And on his path, many would die and their corpses would detonate to take even more lives.

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

Whilst Arima was charging toward them, they could hear the sound of bones snapping, flesh burning with each explosion, and the blood splattering on the ground.

'What kind of speed is this?!' 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 just to reach him and Dracula. Within that moment, they had only managed to get enough time to follow his movements and cross their arms.

Arima's figure appeared in front of them and his grinning face sunk into their minds. They saw the dark red blade coated with lightning coming toward them.

"[Fifth Cryptic Art, Aeterna, Stella Tertia, Orion] (Eternal Night, Third Star)."

After that, they only saw black and red lights. Lightning thundered and struck their bodies. They almost fell unconscious then heard a casual and eerie laugh piercing their mind and soul.