Chapter 221: 221. ”Good job.”

When Gungnir's edge touched Arima, even Ahura was forced to distance herself. A rumbling noise resounded across Melumnia. It was so low and powerful that it made everything vibrate. Even the Kind Demon's Crosses which had not suffered any damage whatsoever from the Pillars' assaults started shaking and very thin cracks started appearing on them.

 

Fissures in the fabric of reality opened around Arima and the spear. From an outside perspective, it looked like they had been frozen in place. Both Arima and Gungnir were trapped in an infinite chase through dimensions.

 

The ground collapsed and was crushed to nothingness as time passed and everyone around felt a huge headache and wondered if they weren’t already bleeding from the nose and ears.

 

"It's a paradox!" Ahura shouted and jumped back. "Get away from the source as fast as you can!" 

 

Many cracks formed in midair and seemed to be pulling space and time inside. Arima's figure blurred slightly and transparent clones materialized around him; continuously trying to dodge Gungnir which had been duplicated as well.

 

"[Sacred Life, Sacred Death, Sacred World]," Lorus chanted and the giant tree he had planted shined. It grew leaves of all colors and a holy barrier was erected around it. Everyone entered the dome created by the tree and all headaches, as well as the vibration they felt outside, stopped. 

 

This tree was the Lorus’ Soul Manifestation. It would heal allies under its leaves and protect them from harm.

 

"We should be able to recover a bit of blood essence here as well…" Lorus uttered as he watched the Crosses' black miasma trying to pierce through his barrier.

 

Ahura nodded and stared at Arima's clash with Gungnir. Odin beside her seemed to still be affected as he clenched his chest in pain. Sleipnir neighed and ran in a circle around him.

 

Meanwhile, the paradox had simply become chaotic. You couldn't even spot the real Arima or Gungnir anymore. There were too many different versions of them trying to overtake the other. 

 

At that point, from the Pillars' vision, there were around a thousand Arima’s fighting against a crimson spear.

 

But as it continued, a change occurred. Some of the clones ended their clash. Sometimes, Arima would evade Gungnir before destroying it, while at other times he would be impaled by the weapon and die.

 

The paradox caused all kinds of natural disasters to happen on Melumnia as the ‘after-images' disappeared one after another. It persisted until there was only one version of both Arima and Gungnir. They were the two original ones and appeared to have been stopped in time.

 

Gradually, they began to move again. Gungnir's tip pierced Arima's skin and a bit of blood flowed down. But instantly after, he shifted his entire body and the spear couldn't stop itself as it went past him. 

 

Arima's eyes glowed and Karma pulsed. He spotted a weakness on the spear's theory and hacked his sword. The red dark red blade slashed the spear's shaft and cut it in two. Gungnir cracked and exploded with a discharge of red energy. Arima's figure was promptly shrouded and Odin abruptly screamed.

 

He collapsed on his knees and Lorus hurriedly went to his side to check his state. 

 

"His soul is being damaged. Why…?" He muttered and Ahura's eyes widened.

 

She stepped out of the sacred tree's dome and rushed toward the red light. She chanted a short magic and waved her hand. The light dispersed and she caught sight of Arima. He was calmly standing with a smirk on his face. Ahura's eyes immediately focused on what he was holding. 

 

"No!"

 

Arima laughed and broke apart the transparent sphere in his hand. 

 

"[Vita Venari]," he intoned and a colorless force entered his body. In contrast, Odin abruptly lost all of his strength, and Sleipnir, as well as his familiars, cried before turning into particles.

 

Lorus shuddered and backed away. "He absorbed his life force through the soul connection he had with Gungnir… this is ridiculous."

 

Ahura reached Arima in a fit of rage and swung her sword at him. Her flying swords surrounded him at the same time and were thrust at him. His body released a dense vapor and the air around him twisted oddly. 

 

He once again disappeared on the spot and when he resurfaced a few miles away, the four flying swords had been shattered. Ahura gritted her teeth and dropped the broken weapon that she had used to parry Karma. Her arm had now a large cut on it and she felt her strength leaving her body.

 

"Angra, I didn't want to use this; but you leave me no choice," she uttered and her aura faded away. 

 

Arima's expression twitched. Ahura's eyes slowly altered and turned into double irises. Just like the ones he had seen on the crimson monster that habited his mind. The fact that he couldn't sense her aura anymore was also perturbing.

 

But, in the face of that, he nonchalantly smiled and sheathed Karma. His body stopped releasing any aura or mana and the vapor coming out of his body dispersed. He closed his eyes and the Third Red Art was promptly terminated. The chainmail snake was also deconstructed and reverted to a normal chain attached to the katana's handle.

 

Ahura hesitated and her eyes returned to normal. She couldn’t understand why Arima had decided to retract his aura, magic, and killing intent so suddenly. She remembered Angra Mainyu as powerful, evil, and extremely cunning. 

 

There was no way he would surrender to the enemy. From what she understood of him; it was sure that he would fight until his death even if there wasn't anything to win from it.

 

"Ahura, you didn't pay enough attention and missed two crucial things," Arima raised his voice as Afriose's curses started affecting him again. He lifted his left hand which was already skeletal and raised one finger. 

 

"One: my Art is already around you, ready to swallow its prey," he stated and Ahura glanced at the black miasma at her feet.

 

"Perhaps, but it's useless if it doesn't kill me. I easily can survive and kill you afterward," she retorted. "And my Pillars will be protected by Lorus’ tree."

 

Arima cackled and Ahura furrowed her eyebrows. 

 

"You see… that's the second thing you miscalculated," he grinned. "You have a really competent subordinate. But I'm sure that even he can make mistakes. Having good eyesight can sometimes be very unfortunate."

 

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Ahura first scowled at him but then, her whole body shivered and she urgently turned her head toward Ambor who was casting a magic which she had never seen before. Her eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth to call him. 

 

"Too late," Arima muttered and Ambor finished the incantation.

 

"[Third Destruction Art, Pars Impios] (Lawless Tome)," the infamous black and white book materialized in Ambor's hands. The book opened and flipped its own pages. Ambor stared at it and only then was he able to hear his leader's voice. 

 

"Stop that magic, Ambor!"

 

But as Arima said, it was too late. The book halted on a certain page. Ambor read what was written on it and quivered. He started shaking uncontrollably and even his evil eyes couldn't help him anymore.

 

“/ The caster is not registered and not permitted to make a wish, \" the Tome actually spoke this time and a cold, mechanical voice echoed in the Pillar's ears. Ambor immediately paled. The book had reached a whole new level of sentience.

 

“/ Additionally, the caster sought to use me against the creator. A countermeasure will be undertaken. The pre-applied spell will be activated. \”

 

The book slipped out of Ambor hands and the latter could only stare dumbfounded as it cast a spell. He braced himself for the worst but after a moment, nothing happened. He was about to say something, but the Lawless Tome spoke again.

 

"/ End of countermeasure. 'Salve' has successfully been conjured, \" the steel-like voice resounded strongly in everyone's heads. Then before they knew it, the book was already gone.

 

"…What happened?" Baba Yaga whispered and the others felt the same.

 

Ahura looked strangely at her comrades. She made sure that nothing had happened to them before turning her head. When she looked away, she expected to see the half-skeleton demon who she was talking to. But her eyes narrowed instead, and recalled the name of the magic said by the book; 'Salve'.

 

She stared at the empty place where Arima was supposed to be and stuttered. "It…means…"

 

"Hello," Arima's voice jolted everyone and chilled them to the bone. Ambor was scared, unbelievably scared. He was looking down at his feet with absolutely no will power, not even to move his eyes. He was staring at the large shadow encompassing him. The killing intent behind him made him sweat and pale like an ill man.

 

"{You were really annoying. You put me in many bad situations. But you made a mistake by disregarding the Tome’s sub-layers. Hypnosis… incredibly simple, but equally treacherous. Aren’t you confused about why you suddenly decided to use the Tome?}" 

 

Ambor didn't even get the time to lash out or react to this telepathic message. He only heard the bullets spin in the chamber and the hammer igniting the chamber. That was all. Everything went black for him. His entire chest had been obliterated in the blink of an eye. The pentagrams in his eyes shined one last time before dying down.

 

Seven people witnessed that happening. Afriose, Lorus, Baba Yaga, Nyx, Loki, Thanatos, Kronos… They all were right next to Ambor, but all they saw was that Arima had appeared out of nowhere and shot him to death. They couldn't even warn him in time.

 

Arima collected the life force and two people kicked the ground at that exact moment. They were Ahura and Afriose. The former bit her lip and considered the distance between her and her companions. She knew it would take her around two and a half seconds. That might sound fast for regular people, but for Arima, that amount of time was more than enough.

 

As for Afriose, he was incredibly fast and even surpassed Arima's capabilities. But when the cursed man finally placed his hand on Arima, nothing happened. He was merely touching a three meters tall skeleton who was now looking down at him with a smirking skull.

 

He couldn't believe it. He had said so himself; that he would kill Arima if he ever managed to make contact.

 

‘Perfectly in time,’ Arima said inwardly as he harvested Afriose's life with Karma.

 

***

 

Shakti moaned and fell unconscious. Malum sighed and gently caught her. He turned back into a human and picked her up. He looked at the wisp of light and smiled.

 

"Good job," he muttered and observed the wisp slowly drifting away.

 

***

 

Arima assimilated another life force and his power reached a level that he couldn't even comprehend at the moment. His focus immediately switched to something else. He had 1.58 seconds before Ahura arrived.

 

He casually stepped forward amidst his enemies while unleashing his time magic. He was walking as if he was in his backyard. But no one was attacking him. Rather, they couldn't. Even if he was leisurely strolling in front of them, they were frozen in place. Not that they were too scared, just that the pressure weighing on them was too much. At that moment, they felt miserably weak. 

 

Dominated by spiritual forces… 

 

They never thought that they would experience something like that again after becoming transcendentals and being blessed by the Original Devil. But it was happening now. They were supposed to be the peak of this Reality but were all being dominated by a single person's aura.

 

Loki laughed internally. The others also reacted conflictedly. Some felt bitter while others simply stopped struggling as they all thought the same thing: ‘Monster!’

 

Arima approached the center of the barrier and placed his hand on the sacred tree. His eyes squinted and he whispered something. The trunk immediately turned black and all of the leaves lost their luster. Lorus watched soberly as his creation gruesomely died. He put his hand on his chest, just like Odin did and died without any sound.

 

The barrier was lifted and the First Black Art’s miasma entered the only area of the planet which had still not been covered by it.

 

‘Exactly 0.25 seconds…’ Arima turned around and snorted. Ahura reached forward with her hand and her eyes changed again.

 

She was a meter away from Arima when the entire planet imploded. Just before it happened, everyone saw a cloaked reaper emerge from the ground in front of them and swing a scythe. All they perceived after was infinite darkness along with the feeling of being brought into an unknown realm.

 

"Welcome to my world. This is my true sanctuary. My hellish prison; [Kymestuos]."

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