Chapter 228: 228. ”Let’s begin.”

The moment Arima submerged, he closed his eyes and sensed the staggering energy infiltrating his body. The cave above him collapsed and Angra's last 'shadow' disappeared from this world.

 

Arima received everything in the next second. His aura didn’t variate one bit but everything else changed. His mana, particularly, went through another refinement. 

 

At that point, even Arima didn't know how many times his mana quality and quantity had been perfected. In his current state, it was sure that there would be absolutely no waste of mana every time he conjures a magic.

 

It was also a fact that a mere 10% of his mana pool could already be compared to every Pillar and Guardian combined. He was such a monster that the pure energy he held inside his mana pool was enough to obliterate hundreds of thousands of Planes.

 

His body was minutely altered as he assimilated Angra's full legacy. Until now, Arima had undergone many transformations and enhancements. The first one being the injection of nanomachines when he was still a human. The second one was also during his human life when a miniature Eion system was lodged into his heart.

 

When he arrived in a world with magic circuits, his body went through the regular evolution of refining life force. The next one was one of the most important and maybe the one that allowed him to become what he is today. You could call it his 'death morph'; when he made one with death magic and became an undead.

 

Thereafter came the forced adaption of the Earthen Realm that strengthened his body so that it wouldn't burst apart when using stronger magics. Afterward, obviously, was the colossal boost of the Silver Emperor's form.

 

After that finally came the Life Judgement and the breakthrough into the Heavenly Realm. During that process, Arima combined the power of the Silver Emperor, Malum, the many timelines he had collected, and his resonance with Night to create the form that he named 'Kind Demon'.

 

During that period, Arima also used the Final Resonance and meshed his cells together with Night. Later, when he finalized his integration with the Eion energy, he became a completely new species called the ‘Eternal Dragon’; capable of recovering at an insane speed and virtually unable to run out of mana.

 

The following lift was the transcendence. It turned him into an individual that couldn't be harmed by elements and also gave him the ability to reflect elemental magic several times its initial power.

 

Then finally, after having 'hunted' the original force of the strongest beings such as the Pillars and the Guardians, and collected Ambor's eyes, Arima reached his current state.

 

As he completely merged with Angra Mainyu, his body evolved once again. Not only his eyes and the doubles irises but also his bone structure, his life essence… and for the second time, his species.

 

His wings were deployed almost instantly. His usual dragon wings became slightly larger but the most striking detail was the black feathers that were growing on them. The combination of a dragon and a fallen angel's wings looked shockingly scenic and overwhelming.

 

Soon enough, Arima turned into a giant beast. It wasn't a dragon anymore though. Or to be exact, it had become a lot different. The feathered wings were one of the main disparities but what really differed was his body shape. If before Arima still looked like a normal dragon when he was fully transformed, now it was completely humanoid.

 

His legs were barely bent and his arms were those of a human although they were covered in thick gleaming scales. His upper body was very human-like and the muscles under the black scales were very clearly defined. The mane that previously went from his head to the tip of his tail was now gone and was instead concentrated around his neck, like a lion’s mane.

 

He was also wearing a sort of runic robe over his lower body; a bit like the one he wore in his ‘Kind Demon’ form. He also had a pendant hanging from his neck depicting the Cross of the First Black Art.

 

Arima exhaled. His face was still relatively close to that of a normal dragon but the main difference lied in the eyes; the peculiar feature that Angra Mainyu and Ahura Mazda shared. Arima now possessed four big slit pupils that were more intimidating than ever.

 

"Eternal Spirit Dragon," he muttered as if he was in a trance. These words just suddenly came to his mind and he worded them unconsciously. He looked at his own hands and body and threw a punch. 

 

The water around his fist evaporated because of the friction and giant maelstroms were instantly generated. If he had been in a real ocean instead of his soul realm, he would have created a tsunami big enough to engulf an entire planet. Or his punch might have simply destroyed the planet before that could happen.

 

Arima smirked as he tested his new power and at the same time, eight ominous shadows emerged around him and formed a circle. He glanced at them and snorted. 

 

"Go away for now," he ordered and the shadows silently fused with his body.

 

Arima sighed and his body started shrinking. He reverted to his human form and stretched a little. He observed his wings and retracted them. He then covered his eyes for a second and made them return to normal.

 

He scanned his body and mused. "I ceased to be an undead apparently," he mumbled. "But it seems that I didn't lose my immortality… Rather it's even stronger now." 

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Arima stayed immobile, thinking for a few minutes, then vanished from the spot. Then, as if an explosion had occurred, a large depression was formed and the water was pushed back for hundreds of meters. 

 

Considering that this ocean was maybe quasi-infinite, the pressure of the water and the force it would need to overpower it was beyond imagination. Truthfully, anyone under the level of transcendence would be crushed to death by the full pressure of that ocean unless Arima reins his soul to accommodate their presence, like with Layla.

 

As Arima was rushing toward his companions, one could easily notice that his speed was even greater than the moment before when he was doing that trip in the opposite direction. 

 

When he reached the first star that he had placed previously, he realized that a few weeks had already gone by in this area. He looked around and spotted the figure of his companions dashing toward him. Night arrived first and grunted. 

 

"It's finished. You could have helped seriously…" He grumbled and inspected Arima from head to toe. "What happened? I'm quite sure that something changed while you were up there."

 

Arima smiled. "I fully inherited Angra Mainyu's legacy."

 

Night raised an eyebrow and Layla and Karma arrived next. "Why didn't I experience it as well?"

 

"Because it was something unrelated to my aura or life force. And it was also kind of disconnected from you and my soul in general since it’s my 'identity' that was modified," Arima waved his hand black energy leaked out. "Well, Malum might have been affected though."

 

***

 

As Arima guessed, Malum was currently trying his best to contain the new power invading his body. They both indeed shared the same body but it’s quite a relative statement.

 

For instance, Malum's body was created as undead and he was a congregation of darkness and death magic. When that kind of mind is combined with the skeleton made by 'Doppelganger', the result would obviously be a genuine undead. 

 

But now that Arima isn't an undead anymore doesn't mean that Malum will stop being one too. Although his body was technically the same, his fundamental was different. 

 

It's the same principle as Arima's vision. The latter lost his sight but Malum didn't because he wasn't the one who conjured the Law. The same thing applies to Natus. Arima assimilated that power but it was only bound to 'his' eyes. In the end, sharing bodies doesn't mean sharing souls or identities; sharing what defines you.

 

Ultimately, the only change Malum suffered was the alteration of his bone structure as well as his overall mana and physique. He had actually turned into a real being made of flesh and blood. The next time he transformed into a dragon, wouldn’t be a living skeleton anymore.

 

"Are you okay?" Shakti asked with a worried expression. It was the third time that Malum would suddenly stop out of nowhere. It was also clear that he was troubled, going by his expression.

 

"I'm fine…"

 

***

 

"In any case, let's finalize this thing," Arima changed the subject and extended his hand toward Layla. "Give me the tablet."

 

"This?" Layla took out the map of the magic formation and handed it to Arima. He grabbed it and quickly looked over it one last time before throwing it inside the burning star near them. The stone tablet disappeared inside and Layla blinked in surprise. "Why did you do that?"

 

"That thing wasn't just the map. I would've just given you a paper or something if that was the case. That tablet is also the key to activate the formation. I enchanted it with the correct runes. So, it should activate soon…" Arima paused and hummed. "Now."

 

The star suddenly started shining and as if it was finally allowed contact, it started to vaporize the water around it. At the same time, several beams of light were shot from its kernel and were instantly connected to the other stars that had been placed in specific locations.

 

"All right, let's begin," Arima snapped his fingers and the vapor coming out of the star didn't condense but phased through the water as if it was insubstantial. It congregated at many places and slowly formed diverse runes and circles.

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