Chapter 168: 168. “We’re stuck, aren’t we?”

On a planet full of nature and life, without any sort of building on the horizon, a land dragon was running through the wilderness when he suddenly stopped to look up at the sky illuminated by three different suns.

The temperature on that planet was very high, almost over 50°C, but the plants could still grow and flourish.

This planet was the territory of dragons, Fantasia. It was shockingly big. For comparison, the planet was even bigger than the sun in Arima's world while the three stars it was orbiting around orderly were at least ten times bigger each.

The auburn dragon frowned as he looked up at the sky. The atmosphere seemed to be similar to Earth's as the sky was of a beautiful light blue. From that clear sky, intriguing dots of white light shined and fell like snowflakes on the ground.

The dragon only blinked for a split of a second and before he knew, there was a three-hundred-meter long creature in the sky.

The two pairs of white wings were glowing and their divine presence stunned the dragon. Then, he suddenly spotted a shadow falling off the giant creature.

"Ah," he uttered unconsciously when the black and silver figure crashed on the ground.

***

When Deva ended the dimensional jump, the brightness was so bright compared to Hell's that both Layla and Karma covered their eyes by reflex. When they opened them again, they watched blankly as Arima’s figure fell from Deva’s back.

"Ah," the two girls exclaimed and didn't react in time.

"{Eh?}" Night was confused and felt the impact when Arima's body created a crater on the vast plain. As he was laying down there, Arima suddenly opened his eyes with an annoyed expression.

"…What. The. Heck?"

"{…Sorry, the dimensional jump knocked you off,}" Night apologized and Arima groaned as he stood up with a splitting headache.

He looked up at Deva with half-closed eyes and signaled her to land. Deva nodded slightly and started descending slowly. The land dragon looking from afar squinted his eyes then turned around to leave. Arima glanced lazily in his direction and yawned.

"{By the way, Arima,}" Night called. His tone sounded a little odd. "{…Did you notice?}"

"{…yes.}" Arima's expression sunk.

"{…we're stuck, aren't we?}" Night uttered and Arima growled. He huffed and produced a gale around him. Just after that, Deva reached the ground and the earth shook with her weight alone.

Layla and Karma jumped off from her back and immediately went to Arima. Layla tilted her head and bent her neck to look at Arima.

"Why are you still in that form? It's a bit hard to face you, you know?"

Arima's eye twitched and he looked away from her as if he was fleeing her gaze. Layla scowled and stared at him. "What is it?"

"{We're stuck,}" since Arima wasn't answering, Night answered for him.

"Stuck?" Layla was confused and Karma opened her mouth wide as she thought of something.

"{We can't go back from this form…}" Night responded and Layla froze. "{Well, you know… we forced the Final Resonance because we were not capable of doing it in the first place,}" he paused. "{So, now, we can't release it…? Hahaha…haaa,}" he sighed.

"Wait, wait, wait! Is that permanent?" Karma and Layla were flustered. Both for their reasons.

"Who knows," Arima shrugged. "I don't think so. I just have to find a way to stabilize our current state somehow then work on reversing it."

The two girls were speechless then Karma's eyes widened for some reason. "Does that mean I won't be able to tease Night?"

She said it so genuinely that Arima snickered.

"{…oi.}"

As they were talking together, Deva closed her eyes and looked ready to sleep at any moment.

"Hm?" Arima scanned his surroundings and shook his head. "Just get out. It's disgraceful," he said and numerous presences appeared around his group.

Along with the land dragon Arima had let go earlier, there were at least another twenty dragons surrounding them. They were all pretty small compared to Arima but there was a noble dragon among them who was strong enough to almost be on par with those in the Heavenly Realm.

"…May I ask who you are?" That same dragon raised his voice to address Arima. He seemed to be very cautious with his words.

Arima smiled. "Arimane R. Blade. You can call me Arima."

The noble dragon trembled. He didn't know how to respond. In the first place, he had just come here because one of them had spotted a mysterious creature carrying a really strong looking dragon on its back. He was obliged to check who it was and determine if he was a threat. Even more, because unknown mud-like monsters had appeared across their territory.

But with that small word exchange, the dragon was sure of it. Arima was stronger than him. Even stronger than his entire group together. It felt like he could kill them on the spot if he wanted to.

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Arima smirked. Although he was tired and injured. His level of strength already went beyond the Third Divine. It was strictly impossible for any creature alive to go against him if he was under the Heavenly Realm.

"Let me confirm," Arima talked and all of the dragons tensed. "Is this Fantasia, the Dragons' Land?"

"…Yes."

"I see," Arima nodded. He glanced at Deva and hummed. "Well, first of all, do you know about Chronepsis?" He asked and the reactions he got spoke for themselves. "I’ll take that as a yes. Well, I'm just passing by because he asked me a favor," he added. "Bring me to your leader. I want to chat a little."

***

Meanwhile, across the plane, all the worlds were discovering the existence of the Téra. For instance, on the planet where Arima was transmigrated to, there were a few individuals who noticed the presence of the Téra before everyone.

Among them were Jorga and the sky dragon dwelling in the snowy mountain. They both felt the imminent threat but neither of them was anxious about it. The reason was not that they were confident in their superiority but because there was an entity far stronger than them on this planet.

The identity of that powerhouse was none other than a small black cat hanging from Lifa's shoulder at all times.

Just like that, every world composing this plane suddenly saw themselves getting invaded by the Téra. Even the few worlds without magic circuits were affected after Pandora's opening and forcefully altered to welcome mana.

Arima's world was no exception. The people there and the ‘Empire’ he had built were working hard to find out what happened and what were the Téra.

***

"Is this the planet you chose, Kerberos?" Hades asked as he probed the volcanic planet they were on. Tens of thousands of devils and demons had followed them through the gate.

"Yes. This is the biggest planet I could find that was suited for us," Chulainn responded and sat down as he looked around. "It should be around… 700 million kilometers wide," he stated and Hades nodded on satisfaction.

"For the number of people that we managed to bring, that's more than enough," he said and sighed when he thought about Hell's collapse. "I wonder where the gods went to…"

"I think I know," Chulainn remarked. "I recall a certain place in another world. If I'm not wrong, it should be the perfect substitute for Heaven."

***

Chulainn was right, the place Zeus chose to go to was one of the greenest planets in the whole plane. It was also quite big with a diameter of 500 million kilometers.

When Gabriel stepped on the planet's ground, she inhaled and sighed just after. "It's not bad but far from Heaven's purity…"

"Stop complaining, this was the best I could find considering we needed an inhabited planet," Zeus scowled at her and she pouted.

"Anyway, we have to claim this planet. There should be Téra here too so let's get rid of them as fast as possible," Azes said and everyone nodded before they started exploring the whole planet.

***

Arima was led to the highest point of a mountain. They crossed paths with a lot of dragons on the way. He was not used to seeing so many dragons so he was a bit surprised. It was the same for Karma and Layla who had climbed on his shoulders. Deva had remained back at the place she landed, sleeping.

When they reached the flat top of the mountain, Arima saw an old looking dragon with cracked scales sitting there. He walked up to him and smiled.

"I didn't expect someone of your level to be staying here," he commented. “Second Divine. Dragon or not, it’s rare to meet one such as you in a mortal world.”

The old dragon slowly opened his eyes and his pupils narrowed when he saw Arima. He trembled in both fear and awe.

"…Carcus informed me of your arrival. You said that Lord Chronepsis requested your assistance… is this true?"

"It is," Arima smirked and sat down.

"Is he…?"

"Dead? Yes," Arima immediately answered and pointed at his shoulder. "The lovely girl right here is his inheritor."

The old dragon's eyes widened as he observed Layla. "So, it was true… He found refuge in the soul of a human," he muttered and looked back at Arima. "Sorry for my late introduction. My name is Oulan, I'm the Elder Dragon of this territory. If I may ask, what was Lord Chronepsis’ favor?"

Arima shrugged. "I have no idea," he replied and Oulan blinked. "To be exact, he merely told me to save Fantasia from future danger. But he wasn't able to ascertain what it was exactly. So, I don't know what I'm supposed to protect you all from."

Oulan wore a strange expression. "Does it possibly have something to do with those unknown creatures that suddenly appeared?"

Arima shook his head. "I don't think so. The Téra are dangerous indeed but I don't think they pose a serious threat to you dragons," he retorted. "Rather, from what I sensed when coming here, there's something far more precarious for you all at the moment."