Chapter 256: 256. ”The show is about to end.”

Malum roared and his body gained a layer of obsidian flames over his scales as he joined the battlefield. He looked like a true volcanic dragon with a body made of only fire and rock. The two scythes in his hands were planted in the ground and exploded to create a giant tidal wave of fire.

Millions of ghost-like entities were burnt by the might of his fire magic and turned into particles. Shakti conjured an area of absolute coldness and froze the ghosts in ice. The four Divine Beasts were flying and running around, fighting the same unknown enemies.

The Aeter element had still not disappeared and countless waves of black lightning were raining on the ground and exploding.

"Well, things certainly escalated quickly," Arima commented and another wave of white ghosts was annihilated with a thought of his.

"{As I told you beforehand, the Creators' bodies are like a shell. They don't actually have any direct impact on their lives. When the body is destroyed, something else is released. Certainly, it's more vulnerable. But it's a lot more chaotic and dangerous than this scenery lets you see,}" Krynox said and Arima scowled.

"Indeed… those things, they keep getting stronger and coming back. The worse is that they seem to have the ability to transform the beings they touch into their comrades," he said and his eyes drifted toward a place far away.

There was sort of white flame hovering in the air surrounded by maybe billions of those white ghosts. The moment Ahura and Layla destroyed the God's body, that flame was left behind and started producing an army of phantoms without rest.

Arima tried to cut through it and even analyze it with Natus, but both failed. And in the end, they had to retreat slowly as the number of ghosts kept increasing. Furthermore, every time they destroyed one, another two would be born even stronger.

"{The Creators don't have a soul. Or you could also say that they don't have their own mind. The soul is not something physical but a result of the fusion of both the mind and the life essence. That God you see over there has a life essence but doesn't have a mind. As if…}"

"As if they were artificial," Arima finished the sentence. "Is that what you want to say?"

"{Yes. They are probably themselves a crude creation of the Spirit Realm.}"

"Fine, but how does it explain this?"

"{This is a theory of mine… But those ghosts are probably a result of the God's life essence going berserk. It basically means that each one of those things is a part of the Original God. When I say that they don't have a mind, I'm insinuating that the life essence carries an ego by itself. It means that it can learn, fight, and grow.}"

"{Doesn't that mean each one of those ghosts could become as strong as the God we just defeated?}" Night remarked and Krynox responded with a meaningful silence. "{Fuck. Then what are we supposed to do? Is there a way to extinguish that life essence?}"

"{Technically speaking, life essence is the combination of life energy and life force. Life energy is what makes you stay alive whilst life force is what makes you stronger. In that case, Arima can probably use 'Life Hunt' on it and the life essence would lose its stability and vanish. But that would only work if the essence dies somehow or loses its will. But…}"

Arima snickered. "But we don't have a way to kill it, huh?"

"{…I'm afraid, yes. I'm sorry. I assumed that there would be a way for us to win if we destroyed his outer shell, but now that I see this, I realize how hasty my guess was.}"

"I told you many times, Kind Demon," a voice abruptly came out of one of the ghosts. Arima's expression twitched. That voice seemed to be a little less haughty since it called him by his title, but there was no mistake.

"…These things are starting to gain intelligence. They're growing too fast."

"{At the moment, each one of them has the power of an Earthen God. But it's only a matter of time before they become strong enough to defeat you.}"

Not far, Layla swung her rapier at nothing but her attack still cut thousands of ghosts in two. She flapped her wings and landed next to Arima. "Then what do we do? We really can't kill it?"

"{We can't,}" Krynox answered for everyone to hear. "{That flame of pure life essence you see there is not a soul because it lacks one really important 'ingredient' if I may say so. Since it isn't a soul, it's not a definite entity, but one that exists between creation and birth. No attack can reach it since it doesn't even exist.}"

"He's right," the God's voice resounded again. Each ghost was talking at the same time now. "You called yourself Krynox? I'm indeed impressed that you managed to hide from us for so long. But unfortunately, you will perish by our hands."

"'Our'?" Arima muttered and his eyes narrowed. Malum and Jorga who were the most perceptive after him also raised their heads in panic.

In the following second, the Aeter slowly began to collapse. The bolts of lightning in the sky were twirling like dying snakes. The attacks ceased and the darkness threatened to disappear.

"Someone is coming from the outside," Arima clicked his tongue and glared at one particular ghost which had consumed thousands of others to become stronger. That big ghost in the shape of the God's former body appeared to be mocking him.

"Prayer, I can't let you die here. I don't want that Life Hunter to come for me afterward," another emotionless voice echoed and the Aeter was finally dispersed. The 'Eternal Haven' was back to normal and a second figure had appeared.

It was obviously the Original Devil. His body was the same as the Original God's. The only differences were the colors that were darker and the black energy coming out of his neck.

"I wouldn't have died even without your help, Slanderer."

"Say all you want. You still lost your body to a mere demon," the Devil retorted and the God huffed before falling silent.

Arima frowned and fired at the Devil with Azizos. The bullet was caught by the creature's hand and exploded into golden lightning. But the Devil was unfazed even after that.

Arima clicked his tongue and sighed afterward. "I knew it. That 'Slanderer' is more powerful. He also has a natural resistance against Aeter."

He stored Azizos and forcefully ended his resonance. Karma was also forced to become human against her own will. Both her and Night had stupefied expression when they surfaced next to Arima.

The God and the Devil were also watching in wonder. They thought Arima was preparing something, but at the same time, they were so sure of their victory that they didn't stop him in the slightest.

"Jorga, Apana, Aergia, Sebas, Deva, Ahura, Malum, Shakti, Night, Karma, Layla… stay right here for a moment," Arima called everyone and teleported them behind him without even waiting for their answer. He then stopped flying and landed on the ground with light steps.

He started walking toward the life essence of the Original God with a smile on his face. But his eyes were not amused. Every time he took a step, he would get transported into a new scenery but even that couldn't perturb him. Additionally, the ghosts that tried to attack him would be crushed by his aura and disappear.

As he was walking, he slowly transformed into the 'Ancient Demon' and the weight of his steps increased significantly. The ground would shake just because of his march. The Devil was mystified because of his actions and went in front of the God's life essence to protect it.

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"Krynox, can you tell me a bit more about the 'Eternal Haven'? I might have an idea."

Krynox was perplexed. "{…the 'Eternal Haven' is a sacred place built for the Creators to monitor the whole Existence without moving themselves as well as to train their powers. It is connected to every single Reality, World, and Dimension that ever existed.}"

"What would happen if it happened to disappear?"

"{Nothing. Nothing would happen. Only this place would be gone and wouldn't affect the real world at all.}"

At that exact moment, Layla's eyes shined and her cool expression broke down. She immediately tried to fly off and shout. But her legs, wings, and mouth didn't want to move. It was the same for everyone around her.

Malum looked at his feet and noticed an intricate magic circle. 'The Fourth White Art's lower layer, 'Strings of Bunraku'. Anyone who stays above this formation for more than one minute will lose control of his body…'

He knew how tough this magic was to dispel and didn't even try to move but Layla was gritting her teeth and she even injured herself while trying. Malum glanced at her solemnly then focused on Arima again.

"{What are you going to do?}" Krynox couldn't help but panic albeit himself being normally calm and rational.

"Oh, right. Sorry, you didn't know about it so I hid that part of my memory from you until now. I'll unlock it now," Arima uttered and Krynox started to freak out for real when he learned about Arima's plan.

"{You can't be serious… right?}"

"Who do you think I am? Of course, I'm serious."

"{…Change. I want a host change.}"

"Too late," Arima chuckled and invoked another one of his Arts. "Next step, [Fourth Black Art, Secundi Versum, Alligatum] (Second Verse, Confinement)."

A black circle was drawn at Arima's feet and the same one appeared below his group as well. When he recognized that formation, Night started acting a bit like Layla.

Arima smirked and chanted another line for the Fourth Black Art's hidden aspect. "[Invadendi in Mundo] (Invade the World)."

He added a new layer and Layla started crying. Those who couldn't understand what was happening were looking at her in worry.

"Next," Arima mumbled and drew a third circle. "[Third Destruction Art, Pars Impios]."

The infamous book appeared above him and began to talk with ease. The Lawless Tome's sentience had almost reached the peak now.

"I want to confirm. Does Master really wish to proceed with this plan?"

"Yes. What are the odds in your opinion?"

"…1.2698% of success after sampling over ten billion possible outcomes."

Arima shrugged. "That's good enough. Be prepared, Tome."

The book didn't say anything else and quietly floated around its master.

"What is your plan?" The Devil, who had the most interest in strategies and schemes asked in curiosity.

Arima laughed in return. "Well, I'd need to be quite dumb to tell you my plan beforehand. But, truly, there's nothing you can do about it anymore. You shouldn't have let me do what I wanted. You will regret your arrogance."

"At first, I had hopes that I wouldn't have to use this trump card. You see… because it's kinda hard to decide if it's a good move or not. But if you tell me that you guys can't be killed by any orthodox means, I need to be innovative."

"The first step of that plan is this," Arima raised his hand and snapped his fingers. The black circle that was glowing under his group was triggered and instantly sealed every single bit of memory they had about the individual named Arimane Reigen Blade. In the next moment, a silver gear appeared in the sky and transported everyone away.

"I need people to forget about me, literally. I implanted a virus in them and the moment they get out of here, it will spread and erase me from the memory of every single living being in Existence."

The Devil couldn't follow anymore. Or to be exact, he couldn't understand the idiocies the man in front of him was blurting out.

"If people forget you, you do realize that you will lose your power as the 'Kind Demon', right?"

Arima smiled. "Of course, I do. That's the point. Now, let me show you what I'm talking about." An ominous and colorless magic formation appeared above his right palm.

"You! That Law is not something you should play with!" The God bawled and the Devil began to feel a slight fear rising inside of him.

"There's more," Arima's tone made you feel like it was a spectacle. On his chest, an intricate circle emerged and flickered dangerously.

The Creators only needed a glimpse to unravel the meanings behind the runes. The Devil stepped back. The God's ghosts all began to run away out of instinct.

"The show is about to end."

Even the 'Eternal Haven' itself seemed to be scared of Arima's words and actions as it started trembling although there was no energy coming out. It was as if the whole realm had predicted its impending destruction and was shivering like a scared animal.

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