247. ”Don’t tempt me.”
"Let her go," Arima felt the cold metal touching his neck and an emotionless voice penetrated his ears. He snorted and grabbed the blade with his hand. His palm was cut but he ignored that.
"You should put that sword back into its sheath. In case you didn't realize, if I had not teleported this woman out of that planet, you would have killed her," Arima pointed at Ikoya next to him.
"What kind of crap are you spouting? She's the Eighth Pillar, she wouldn't have died from that."
"You should check again," Arima retorted and the knight frowned. He checked Ikoya's state while making sure he could kill Arima at any moment with a single swing. When he finally noticed that Ikoya had become as weak as a simple human, he blanked out for a second.
When his eyes moved again to glare at Arima, there was already no one at the tip of his blade. Ikoya was not here anymore as well. The knight gritted his teeth in rage and slowly turned around.
"I get it. What do you want from me? You captured her because of me, right?" He coldly inquired. Arima had not fled, he was still there, with Ikoya trapped in his spatial manipulation.
"You're sharp. That helps. What I want is quite simple. Since asking for your life would be a bit too unfair, I just want you to let me absorb your life force. Like so, I can be sure that you won't be a threat to me anymore. Afterward, I will give you back your beloved and let you live the rest of your lives together."
Arima chuckled. "But, seriously, it's really funny that a Guardian, the Fourth nonetheless, fell in love with one of the Pillars. What do you think about my proposition, Xion? If you lose your life force, you will be forever hidden from the eyes of the Guardians. They won't be able to chase you down even if they learn that you had a relationship with the enemy. I can even alter your soul so that no one can recognize you. I have that power. What's your decision? You have my word that what I said is only the truth."
The black knight closed his eyes. He tightened his fist then released it. He sighed and threw away his sword. "Fine. Do what you want," he agreed and completely lowered his guard. Ikoya was already crying but her sobs couldn't be heard any more since she had lost her power.
Arima smiled and his four pupils glowed. "Just look at me in the eyes," he instructed and in the next instant, Xion lost all of his life force and fell unconscious.
Arima also knocked out Ikoya and as promised, altered their soul a bit before transferring them to a secluded planet where they could live peacefully.
"{How nice of you,}" Krynox remarked.
"I made a promise," Arima replied. "I may look like this, but I will always respect my promises. I never break my word. I follow a rule so obvious that it was often forgotten. I don't do anything to others that I don't want them to do to me."
"{People usually don't want to be killed and oppressed, you know?}"
Arima laughed. "Everything is relative, Krynox. Never take a single statement and try to use it to define everything. One sentence won't explain my entire mindset. That's impossible. If you want me to tell you how my head works, I'll have to write you a thousand pages essay. Don't tempt me."
"{…}"
"Anyway, I've saved a lot of time with this. Although I almost died because of… reasons, now with that guy's life force, I can take care of the rest more easily. At least until I reach the top three ranks," he declared and looked into a certain direction. Akoman was calling him. He fell silent.
"…Krynox, prepare me the best apology words you can think of."
***
Flavio facepalmed with a blank expression. He went over the situation in his head over ten times already. He opened his mouth and spoke. "I died."
"Yes," Arima nodded and paused. "…You're lucky that your soul wasn't destroyed. Otherwise, my spirits wouldn't have been able to save you. And I don't know if I could have used the Fifth Forbidden Art to resurrect you…"
"I died then was revived by three Evil Spirits…ha…haha…" Flavio completely ignored Arima's words and laughed dryly with a tired expression. "Let's finish this already so I can go back. And from now on, I'll stay a few galaxies away from you. I don't even mind staying here until you need me for the operation," he sighed and started mumbling inaudibly.
"I'll just become a small-town doctor after all of this and live quietly while trying to forget that a monster like you exists…"
Arima slowly looked away. He was feeling even more awkward about the fact that he mentally broke a Plane Guardian. He shook his head and sighed.
"All right then. We'll do it like that. I'll go take care of the rest then I'll come back to fetch you… you're not listening, are you?"
Flavio was still talking to himself and Arima silently flew off.
***
The four Divine Beasts formed an amazing team. Jorga would control the pace of the fight with his instructions and illusions whilst efficiently using the destructive power of Sebasfiel, the speed of Aergia, and Apana's splendid elemental control and magic defense.
Along with them, Ahura could not be underestimated. She confronted Arima once but actually never used her full power. But even like that, she still had an astounding battle sense and every single magic of hers would hit and deal a great amount of damage.
After her, Night's performance was quite impressive too. With Karma in hand, there was nothing that he couldn't cut his way through. It's also important to know that his fire magic was at the level of a Guardian or a Pillar if not better.
Of course, there was also Malum who maybe was the strongest individual of the bunch. Especially with Shakti's help, his Berserker Path's strength was unbelievable. This crazy guy could easily destroy planets with a single punch. Additionally, both him and Night had now infinite mana thanks to their bond with Arima.
Trevy, Anubis, Gilgamesh, and Evangeline could only act as supports with those powerhouses fighting at the front.
Then finally, there was Layla whose role was more crucial than anyone could have expected. If it wasn't for her, their side would have suffered a lot more injuries and they wouldn't have been able to kill the three Téra out of ten.
"I have to admit it, you might not be that powerful, but your presence in a battle is more than helpful," Ahura praised her as she flew beside her.
"Thank you," Layla smiled and her eyes glowed. She waved her hand and the book floating around her wrote a few more lines and a magic was cast to dispel one of the Téra's attacks.
At this point, Layla had made of the Lawless Tome her own. With her all-seeing eyes, she could use it perfectly and predict every threat in a battle.
After a few hours of continuous battle, Aergia managed to bite and pluck a salamander Téras’ head along with the whole spine.
When the fourth Téras had been killed, the six others suddenly screamed together and released their aura and every ounce of energy they had in their bodies. The abrupt pressure shoved everyone away and a rumbling sound echoed. This noise sounded like the world was tumbling down and transcended any kind of science.
The entire group heard it as well a continuous whistling in their ears. Meanwhile, the remaining Téra gathered together and formed a circle. At the center of that circle, a black mass of matter formed. The discharge of energy hadn't dropped a bit and even Malum couldn't approach.
An aerial Téras screeched and entered the sphere of black matter. A bull followed, then a tiger, a spider, a humanoid one, and finally, only a sort of giraffe-like creature was left.
Layla widened her eyes and trembled. It took her some time to analyze the future of that dark matter since it was a complex existence. But now she didn't hesitate.
"Ahura! If you can, kill that last Téras before he enters that sphere. If you don't, I don't see ourselves winning at all!" She shouted and Ahura's eyes narrowed.
"Sebas!" She called and the goat nodded. She immediately gave her lifespan away and the effects became visible almost immediately. She aged again and approached the physical state of a twenty-five-year-old woman. But her presence was still as holy as ever and her appearance was even more endearing than before.
Sebas howled and condensed as much energy as possible before launching a chaotic and powerful wave of energy. Not only was the giraffe Téras struck by it, but even the black sphere was hit. But after the beam of energy vanished, the black matter hadn’t suffered any change whatsoever. It had not even moved by a single millimeter.
Then, the object slowly started transforming into a creature. Its general structure looked like a minotaur, but it had a pair of feathered wings, the head of a tiger, the arms and skin of a human, and six spider legs coming out of its back. It was a very repugnant sight.
But its appearance was the last thing Layla's group could care about. That monstrosity’s aura was limitless. If the five other Téra that were now dead had participated in that fusion, maybe it would have been practically invincible.
Fortunately for them, the Téra did not do that for the simple reason that they didn't know. They act on instinct and performed that fusion when they felt threatened beyond a certain limit.
Layla glared at the terrifying monster and closed the Lawless Tome. She dispelled it and her eyes shined with a bright silver light. Her scales and wings followed suit.
"I have no choice. If I don't pull out my hidden card, we'll suffer casualties," she stated and an incredibly complex and majestic-looking magic circle was drawn at her feet. The runes in that circle were moving without rest and the 'formula' kept changing every second. Even Ahura was impressed by it.
A pillar of light descended out of nowhere. If you looked upward or downward, it seemed like the pillar went from one edge of the universe to another. Layla became shrouded by that light and the second it died down; a brand-new aura covered the area.
Everyone juddered and couldn't hide their astonishment. Layla's expression was very serene and cold. If before she was elegant and innocent, now she was intimidating and alluring.
"[My Footsteps are Naught]."
"[They are Drowned by the River]."
“[Swept by the Waves].”
"[Only Mine to Comprehend]."
"[Once I Choose to Offer Everything]."
"[I will Venture this Continuity]."
She chanted and her rapier appeared in her right hand. The Lawless Tome came back in her left hand and flipped its pages on its own. She looked like a powerful sage and swordmaster at the same time.
She smiled confidently and lifted the book. She extended her arm and one particular page started glowing with a golden light. She closed the book and the light came out of it and swathed her blade.
She swung her rapier once and slashed through thin air. Right after, a large wound opened on the Téras' chest. The monster roared from the pain and flapped its wings.
"{Move}!" Jorga woke up everyone from their stupor.
Ahura was the first to move and made eye contact with Layla for a second before charging toward the monster. Aergia followed and howled. Apana and Sebas hollered as well and everyone else resumed the fight.
During the following moments, Layla would always injure the Téras no matter what she did. Her movements were so unpredictable that the monster could never react to them.
She would swing her rapier then disappear and swing again after emerging somewhere else. Her attacks would always reach their target after a certain latency; sometimes seconds, sometimes minutes.
At other times, Layla would also flip through the pages of the Tome herself and invoke devastating magic and would even draw runes with her rapier and heal or buff her allies. She had become the central pillar of the battle.
247. ”Don’t tempt me.”
"Let her go," Arima felt the cold metal touching his neck and an emotionless voice penetrated his ears. He snorted and grabbed the blade with his hand. His palm was cut but he ignored that.
"You should put that sword back into its sheath. In case you didn't realize, if I had not teleported this woman out of that planet, you would have killed her," Arima pointed at Ikoya next to him.
"What kind of crap are you spouting? She's the Eighth Pillar, she wouldn't have died from that."
"You should check again," Arima retorted and the knight frowned. He checked Ikoya's state while making sure he could kill Arima at any moment with a single swing. When he finally noticed that Ikoya had become as weak as a simple human, he blanked out for a second.
When his eyes moved again to glare at Arima, there was already no one at the tip of his blade. Ikoya was not here anymore as well. The knight gritted his teeth in rage and slowly turned around.
"I get it. What do you want from me? You captured her because of me, right?" He coldly inquired. Arima had not fled, he was still there, with Ikoya trapped in his spatial manipulation.
"You're sharp. That helps. What I want is quite simple. Since asking for your life would be a bit too unfair, I just want you to let me absorb your life force. Like so, I can be sure that you won't be a threat to me anymore. Afterward, I will give you back your beloved and let you live the rest of your lives together."
Arima chuckled. "But, seriously, it's really funny that a Guardian, the Fourth nonetheless, fell in love with one of the Pillars. What do you think about my proposition, Xion? If you lose your life force, you will be forever hidden from the eyes of the Guardians. They won't be able to chase you down even if they learn that you had a relationship with the enemy. I can even alter your soul so that no one can recognize you. I have that power. What's your decision? You have my word that what I said is only the truth."
The black knight closed his eyes. He tightened his fist then released it. He sighed and threw away his sword. "Fine. Do what you want," he agreed and completely lowered his guard. Ikoya was already crying but her sobs couldn't be heard any more since she had lost her power.
Arima smiled and his four pupils glowed. "Just look at me in the eyes," he instructed and in the next instant, Xion lost all of his life force and fell unconscious.
Arima also knocked out Ikoya and as promised, altered their soul a bit before transferring them to a secluded planet where they could live peacefully.
"{How nice of you,}" Krynox remarked.
"I made a promise," Arima replied. "I may look like this, but I will always respect my promises. I never break my word. I follow a rule so obvious that it was often forgotten. I don't do anything to others that I don't want them to do to me."
"{People usually don't want to be killed and oppressed, you know?}"
Arima laughed. "Everything is relative, Krynox. Never take a single statement and try to use it to define everything. One sentence won't explain my entire mindset. That's impossible. If you want me to tell you how my head works, I'll have to write you a thousand pages essay. Don't tempt me."
"{…}"
"Anyway, I've saved a lot of time with this. Although I almost died because of… reasons, now with that guy's life force, I can take care of the rest more easily. At least until I reach the top three ranks," he declared and looked into a certain direction. Akoman was calling him. He fell silent.
"…Krynox, prepare me the best apology words you can think of."
***
Flavio facepalmed with a blank expression. He went over the situation in his head over ten times already. He opened his mouth and spoke. "I died."
"Yes," Arima nodded and paused. "…You're lucky that your soul wasn't destroyed. Otherwise, my spirits wouldn't have been able to save you. And I don't know if I could have used the Fifth Forbidden Art to resurrect you…"
"I died then was revived by three Evil Spirits…ha…haha…" Flavio completely ignored Arima's words and laughed dryly with a tired expression. "Let's finish this already so I can go back. And from now on, I'll stay a few galaxies away from you. I don't even mind staying here until you need me for the operation," he sighed and started mumbling inaudibly.
"I'll just become a small-town doctor after all of this and live quietly while trying to forget that a monster like you exists…"
Arima slowly looked away. He was feeling even more awkward about the fact that he mentally broke a Plane Guardian. He shook his head and sighed.
"All right then. We'll do it like that. I'll go take care of the rest then I'll come back to fetch you… you're not listening, are you?"
Flavio was still talking to himself and Arima silently flew off.
***
The four Divine Beasts formed an amazing team. Jorga would control the pace of the fight with his instructions and illusions whilst efficiently using the destructive power of Sebasfiel, the speed of Aergia, and Apana's splendid elemental control and magic defense.
Along with them, Ahura could not be underestimated. She confronted Arima once but actually never used her full power. But even like that, she still had an astounding battle sense and every single magic of hers would hit and deal a great amount of damage.
After her, Night's performance was quite impressive too. With Karma in hand, there was nothing that he couldn't cut his way through. It's also important to know that his fire magic was at the level of a Guardian or a Pillar if not better.
Of course, there was also Malum who maybe was the strongest individual of the bunch. Especially with Shakti's help, his Berserker Path's strength was unbelievable. This crazy guy could easily destroy planets with a single punch. Additionally, both him and Night had now infinite mana thanks to their bond with Arima.
Trevy, Anubis, Gilgamesh, and Evangeline could only act as supports with those powerhouses fighting at the front.
Then finally, there was Layla whose role was more crucial than anyone could have expected. If it wasn't for her, their side would have suffered a lot more injuries and they wouldn't have been able to kill the three Téra out of ten.
"I have to admit it, you might not be that powerful, but your presence in a battle is more than helpful," Ahura praised her as she flew beside her.
"Thank you," Layla smiled and her eyes glowed. She waved her hand and the book floating around her wrote a few more lines and a magic was cast to dispel one of the Téra's attacks.
At this point, Layla had made of the Lawless Tome her own. With her all-seeing eyes, she could use it perfectly and predict every threat in a battle.
After a few hours of continuous battle, Aergia managed to bite and pluck a salamander Téras’ head along with the whole spine.
When the fourth Téras had been killed, the six others suddenly screamed together and released their aura and every ounce of energy they had in their bodies. The abrupt pressure shoved everyone away and a rumbling sound echoed. This noise sounded like the world was tumbling down and transcended any kind of science.
The entire group heard it as well a continuous whistling in their ears. Meanwhile, the remaining Téra gathered together and formed a circle. At the center of that circle, a black mass of matter formed. The discharge of energy hadn't dropped a bit and even Malum couldn't approach.
An aerial Téras screeched and entered the sphere of black matter. A bull followed, then a tiger, a spider, a humanoid one, and finally, only a sort of giraffe-like creature was left.
Layla widened her eyes and trembled. It took her some time to analyze the future of that dark matter since it was a complex existence. But now she didn't hesitate.
"Ahura! If you can, kill that last Téras before he enters that sphere. If you don't, I don't see ourselves winning at all!" She shouted and Ahura's eyes narrowed.
"Sebas!" She called and the goat nodded. She immediately gave her lifespan away and the effects became visible almost immediately. She aged again and approached the physical state of a twenty-five-year-old woman. But her presence was still as holy as ever and her appearance was even more endearing than before.
Sebas howled and condensed as much energy as possible before launching a chaotic and powerful wave of energy. Not only was the giraffe Téras struck by it, but even the black sphere was hit. But after the beam of energy vanished, the black matter hadn’t suffered any change whatsoever. It had not even moved by a single millimeter.
Then, the object slowly started transforming into a creature. Its general structure looked like a minotaur, but it had a pair of feathered wings, the head of a tiger, the arms and skin of a human, and six spider legs coming out of its back. It was a very repugnant sight.
But its appearance was the last thing Layla's group could care about. That monstrosity’s aura was limitless. If the five other Téra that were now dead had participated in that fusion, maybe it would have been practically invincible.
Fortunately for them, the Téra did not do that for the simple reason that they didn't know. They act on instinct and performed that fusion when they felt threatened beyond a certain limit.
Layla glared at the terrifying monster and closed the Lawless Tome. She dispelled it and her eyes shined with a bright silver light. Her scales and wings followed suit.
"I have no choice. If I don't pull out my hidden card, we'll suffer casualties," she stated and an incredibly complex and majestic-looking magic circle was drawn at her feet. The runes in that circle were moving without rest and the 'formula' kept changing every second. Even Ahura was impressed by it.
A pillar of light descended out of nowhere. If you looked upward or downward, it seemed like the pillar went from one edge of the universe to another. Layla became shrouded by that light and the second it died down; a brand-new aura covered the area.
Everyone juddered and couldn't hide their astonishment. Layla's expression was very serene and cold. If before she was elegant and innocent, now she was intimidating and alluring.
"[My Footsteps are Naught]."
"[They are Drowned by the River]."
“[Swept by the Waves].”
"[Only Mine to Comprehend]."
"[Once I Choose to Offer Everything]."
"[I will Venture this Continuity]."
She chanted and her rapier appeared in her right hand. The Lawless Tome came back in her left hand and flipped its pages on its own. She looked like a powerful sage and swordmaster at the same time.
She smiled confidently and lifted the book. She extended her arm and one particular page started glowing with a golden light. She closed the book and the light came out of it and swathed her blade.
She swung her rapier once and slashed through thin air. Right after, a large wound opened on the Téras' chest. The monster roared from the pain and flapped its wings.
"{Move}!" Jorga woke up everyone from their stupor.
Ahura was the first to move and made eye contact with Layla for a second before charging toward the monster. Aergia followed and howled. Apana and Sebas hollered as well and everyone else resumed the fight.
During the following moments, Layla would always injure the Téras no matter what she did. Her movements were so unpredictable that the monster could never react to them.
She would swing her rapier then disappear and swing again after emerging somewhere else. Her attacks would always reach their target after a certain latency; sometimes seconds, sometimes minutes.
At other times, Layla would also flip through the pages of the Tome herself and invoke devastating magic and would even draw runes with her rapier and heal or buff her allies. She had become the central pillar of the battle.
