249 Its Too Late, (1/2)

”[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 exact 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 was 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 those blades and an ear-deafening sound sounded. A sort of metallic and high-pitched noise spread in s.p.a.ce. Arima was standing on an invisible surface and when he was struck by the lich, that surface cracked and made the sound of gla.s.s when it breaks. It felt like the reality's integrity and spatial dimensions were being compromised.

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

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

Each one their strikes could lead to ma.s.sive destruction but their control was so perfect that that force 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 blow on the other's body. 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 this 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 s.h.i.+fted his body and dodged the bullets. He pulled back his sword then slashed with the other.

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Arima blocked it with a cross guard then shot with one of his guns to counter the lich's second sword. He then ducked and tried to kick the lich but the latter 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. Natus was invoked. Arima's eyes started bleeding and the blood flowed down his cheeks but he didn't even blink.

Aeshma surfaced and covered Arima with his body to form something like a demonic armor for him. Arima breathed in and spun his gun around 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 s.h.i.+ned and he moved extremely fast to avoid the sword.

”[Third Red Art, Semita Vitisque Repertor] (Pathfinder).” Arima moved past the lich's guard and punched him directly in the abdomen. The cloaked undead felt pain although he was already dead and gritted his teeth. Arima was now completely unguarded for him to strike. He used his second sword as a matter of fact.

Arima's eyes rolled. He moved strangely and turned his back toward 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 actually thrown it earlier in order 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 remembered it, ”[First Destruction Art, Comoediae Mundi] (World's Comedy)” A dreadful aura escaped Arima's body as the lich turned into ashes.

Arima nearly fell unconscious when he had 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 period 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 Arima 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 think about taking care of the remaining Pillars since he knew the last three of them were probably at the same place, waiting for Arima 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 came back. ”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. Arima closed his eyes and his mind entered in a pa.s.sive 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 a.s.serted its influence.