Chapter 249: 249. ”It’s too late.”

"[Second Red Art, Scientia Est Nisi Cesarem] (The Alchemist's Science)," Arima chanted and the silhouette of Superore began to change and the other object in his left hand followed the same transformation.

 

The lich covered his eyes because of the blinding light coming from Arima's hands. He didn't know what he was up to but he felt like he couldn't let him continue. He gripped his swords and channeled almost all of the ether he had in his body.

 

He bent his body and was propelled by his neutral magic as his cloak wavered. He lifted his two blades and swung them downward with all of his strength. Arima's eyes flashed with a dangerous light. The color of the illuminance emitted by the two objects in his hands turned black and lightning sparked around him.

 

Arima smirked and the light suddenly exploded and robbed the lich of his vision for a second. But he still slashed with his two swords without caring about it. Aeshma's laugh echoed and Arima parried the swords with two, black and red guns which had appeared in his hands.

 

Both of them had still the double-barrel feature but their general design had been altered. They didn't look more modern but on the contrary, they appeared more ancient. A bit like a flint stock from the older ages. But the most important change was the addition of purple blades under the cannons of the gun.

 

Arima parried the lich's swords with these blades and an ear-deafening sound resonated; a sort of metallic and high-pitched noise. Arima stood on an invisible surface when he was struck by the lich, that surface cracked and made the sound of glass breaking. It felt like the Reality itself was being compromised.

 

Arima's feet sunk in those cracks and it was as if he would fall somewhere unknown and terrifying if he were to fully shatter the surface he was standing on.

 

The lich sneered and resumed his onslaught with his two swords. Blue and red lights flashed indefinitely and clashed with two purple rays. Arima smirked and engaged in a pure contest of technique and physical strength.

 

Each one of their strikes could lead to massive destruction but their control was so perfect that the force of their blows would cancel itself when their blades met. But it wasn't the case for deflected attacks. Those would always cause a powerful shockwave that would open even more Reality cracks around them. In the middle of this, Arima was also firing each time he got an angle and the occasion.

 

After a few hours of restless combat, both of the fighters knew that this would be decided by the one who would land the first hit. They were both too tired to even think about defending at the moment. The only thing they could do was abandon their defense and focus on attack. A single strike would be enough to end the battle. 

 

Arima deflected the lich's sword and slid his gun across the blade before pointed the cannons at his opponent's head. The lich shifted his body and dodged the bullets. He pulled back his sword then slashed with the other.

 

Arima blocked it with a crossguard then shot with one of his guns to counter the lich's second sword. He then ducked and tried to kick his opponent but the lich also used his leg and responded with his knee.

 

The two of them took some distance and fell silent. Arima opened his eyes wide and revealed his four pupils. They all narrowed even more and Natus was invoked. His eyes started bleeding and the blood flowed down his cheeks but he didn't even blink.

 

Aeshma surfaced and covered his body to form something like a demonic armor. Arima breathed in and spun his gun with his finger. He then threw it at the lich and flapped his wings.

 

The lich frowned and cut the gun in two as it was coming toward him. Then, he saw Arima coming at him with no weapon in hand. His eyes widened and he felt something was strange. But he didn't have the leisure to understand what it was.

 

Instead, he could only opt to kill Arima as fast as possible. He swung his sword and expected his enemy to be cut in two but what happened shocked him. Arima's over-enchanted eyes shined and he moved extremely fast to avoid the sword.

 

"[Third Red Art, Semita Vitisque Repertor] (Pathfinder)," he moved past the lich's guard and punched him directly in the abdomen. The cloaked undead gritted his teeth. Arima was now completely unguarded for him to strike. He used his second sword to exploit the opportunity.

 

Arima's eyes rolled. He turned his back to the incoming blade. He then raised his left arm and took the sword's blow with his flesh. His arm was severed but the attack was nullified. The lich couldn't even react to what happened before a spinning gun came out of nowhere and landed in Arima's remaining hand. He had thrown it earlier for it to come back there.

 

The lich blanked when Arima stabbed his heart with the gun's blade. Afterward, Arima shot at least a hundred times and a large hole was opened in the undead master's body. Of course, it still wasn't the end for him. But without wasting any time, Arima grabbed the lich's head with his claw and chanted something that brought chills to anyone who experienced it.

 

"[First Destruction Art, Comoediae Mundi] (World's Comedy)." 

 

A dreadful aura escaped Arima's body as the lich turned into particles.

 

Arima nearly fell unconscious when it was finished. He stabilized his body and only then did he absorb the life force. His strength soared again but the mental strain he had suffered made him tired beyond imagination. He also had overused his eyes and now he had to rest them by closing them for an uncertain amount of time.

 

That lich was the First Pillar so it was a given that he was strong. But the only reason Arima won was that the lich couldn't use fire magic on him and also because he was naturally resistant to the death attribute.

 

Arima staggered and stayed in place for several minutes to recover his breath and spirit. He inhaled strongly and a green mist surrounded him. His left arm was growing back as well.

 

"Only five left…" He muttered and teleported away.

 

***

 

In the next few hours, Arima managed to overpower the Second and Fourth Pillars with his strongest Arts. He even used the First Destruction Art for a second time and caused an overheat of his magic circuits. When he killed the last members of the Pillars of Elysium, he had already got his arm back.

 

But when he was at that point, Arima didn't even dream about taking care of the remaining Guardians since he knew the last three of them were probably at the same place, waiting for him to fall into their trap.

 

"{What are you going to do?}" Krynox inquired when Arima entered another dimension where time flowed at least a hundred thousand times faster.

 

Arima couldn't hide his exhaustion after all of this and sat down on the ground with a slightly pained expression. His body gradually shrunk until his human skin and clothes returned. 

 

"Big Bang…" he responded to Krynox with a weak voice, almost whispering.

 

"{…}" Krynox immediately understood and stopped talking. Arima drew a magic circle on the ground to help him a little bit.

 

He then sat in the middle of it and raised his palm. A sort of volcanic stone was formed above his palm. He closed his eyes and his mind entered a passive state. He wasn't sleeping nor was he awake. During that time, the stone still kept getting bigger while shaking.

 

Silence invaded this empty dimension and time asserted its influence.

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***

 

Many seasons went by. The snow, the rain, the tempests… All of that happened across the course of many years. But Arima didn't move or even open his eyes during that whole period. Even after 20 years, he was still sitting cross-legged with a passive presence whilst the volcanic stone kept getting bigger and brighter.

 

After all this time, the cracks on the stone's surface were releasing a flame that couldn't be evaluated by normal means. It was mystical and powerful and its color kept changing. In fact, the flame's hue would change based on the person who looked at it. 

 

A normal person looking at this flame would see the color he was thinking of at the moment. But for someone like Arima, that fire was transparent and filled with multicolor lights.

 

When 25 years had passed, Arima finally opened his eyes and slowly stood up.

 

"{You woke up. Is it finished?}" Krynox asked. For him, 25 years was nothing. He felt like the last time he talked to Arima was yesterday.

 

"It is," Arima nodded and analyzed the 'bomb' had had just made. "This thing will probably destroy the entire Plane it blows up in. I didn't want to use this because of the innocents that would die in the process…"

 

"{It wasn't because you could have been killed by it if you had made a single mistake and didn't want to hibernate for years?}" Krynox retorted and Arima snickered.

 

To produce such a result, Arima had to continuously inject mana into the stone. The mana wasn't a problem since he had an endless amount of it now. But the concentration needed for it was another story. 

 

The average human has around ten minutes of attention span. But Arima had to do that for 25 years. And if he had shifted his attention for even a millisecond, it would have killed him. If it was anyone else, that person would have most likely died, not because of the magic's rebound but most likely because of the mental exhaustion. Furthermore, that would have happened in the first weeks.

 

"{What are you going to do about the Third Pillar? You need his heart, right? How can you retrieve it without destroying it? And also, how will you survive that explosion? To blow it up, you have to leave this dimension and once it detonates, the pressure will be so much that you won't be able to teleport or escape into other Planes or dimensions. Heck, space-time will fall apart the moment that thing explodes.}"

 

Arima sighed. "That guy is what they call a 'World Sage'. Said to be capable of witnessing the entire history of the world without dying. That is because they are born with the ability to regenerate their injuries without using any kind of energy. Not even spiritual ones. His body should be able to survive for a moment. In that meantime, his defenses will all be zero and I will be able to snatch his heart and put it in my soul before it burns away," Arima answered to the first question.

 

"As for my survival, contrary to them, I have elemental absorption to top the fact that the explosion ensuing will have my mana signature. I should be able to last ten minutes without suffering any injury. But if I stay there for more than fifteen minutes, I will undoubtedly die. Then finally, the way I'm going to escape is through the connection each Original Land has with one another."

 

“{…that is a very hypothetical plan.}”

 

"Can’t do better. The last three Pillars are currently in Heaven, I think. If I detonate my magic there, I can reach the border of this Plane and escape in about twelve minutes," Arima explained and canceled the path to the dimension. He returned to the normal world where only a few minutes had passed.

 

"Let's go," he said and calmly teleported to Heaven, completely unhesitant. He reappeared above a majestic temple and three people instantly came out. Among them, one was a young man with fair skin who seemed to be a child with no life experience. But that man was actually Arima's target and the one they called a 'World's Sage'. 

 

As for the two others, Arima shockingly faltered when his eyes met one of them. His eyes widened and the corner of his lips curved upward. "That's incredible. You must be the most powerful living being across the five Mother Realities. No doubt," Arima talked to a woman amongst the three.

 

Describing her as beautiful would be an insult. She was the most attractive woman Arima had ever met. No matter who he was, even he had to admit that. Whether it was her face, her curves, her expression, or her aura, everything about her could make someone crazy over her.

 

A frown appeared on her delicate and alluring face. Her long amber hair fluttered with the wind and her eyes shined splendidly with a dark gold hue. 

 

"I only have one question. What's your goal?" She inquired with a cold and relaxed voice. Her unwavering eyes obviously noticed the threatening volcanic stone floating around Arima.

 

"You know, I kinda feel bad now," he replied and smiled. "Your name was Ellen Rahlena, right? As a man, I seriously apologize for the fact that I will have to kill a woman as charming as you. I’m not even being sarcastic."

 

Ellen squinted menacingly in return. "Answer my question."

 

Arima chuckled. "Nothing personal. But let's say that I can't let you live," he stated and his body made crackling sounds as it expanded. His scales and wings sprouted, his nails sharpened, his mane followed then the horns grew through it. 

 

"Well, of course, I might have convinced you to help me. You appear to be a pretty reasonable person. But unfortunately, for the same reason, since I have to take the life of the young man next to you, I don't think you will cooperate," he continued to talk during his transformation process.

 

Ellen shuddered. She had already realized that she was stronger than him. But for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to move or initiate an attack. It was no longer about whether he was strong or not. She knew that the man in front of her had was something that couldn't be grasped by human logic at all; a true monster.

 

The Ancient Demon laughed along with his seven Evil Spirits and everyone in Heaven felt like their souls were leaving their bodies. Arima grabbed the volcanic stone and clenched his hand. The sound of the stone being crushed was clearly heard.

 

The demon's hand started burning because of a mystical flame. Ellen trembled and her hair levitated as she released her aura. The earth of Heaven fissured and mountains were being lifted just because of her presence. She conjured a sort of diamond shield with a crest engraved on it.

 

"It's too late," Arima uttered coldly. He opened his fist and let the broken stone fall. The fire came out of the stone and formed an ever-growing fireball mixed with stone shards.

 

"[Maior acriorque] (Larger and fiercer)."

"[Quod quia vis accipere] (Take as much as you want)."

"[In oblivionem remittere pergant et deleant] (Release it in one go and destroy to oblivion)."

“[Third Blue Art…]”

 

Arima squinted and four pentagrams revolved around the fireball. It was about to explode and the three Guardians knew of that fact. The Kind Demon deployed his wings to the maximum and spread his arms open. 

 

"[Fragor Magnus] (Big Bang)!"

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