The sphere of life force cracked and an almost physical aura invaded the battlefield. The pressure brought shocked and scared many. As the life force itself was falling like pieces of broken glass, a winged shadow could be spotted in the middle of it.
The gods and devils squinted their eyes and what they saw struck them as unreal. Azes smirked as he saw the falling figure. Lilis, Lanya, and Chulainn smiled as they watched from afar. Michael caught a glimpse and Lucifer watched carefully. Baphomet and Ifrit were observing solemnly.
As Arima was plummeting toward the ground, he recalled Triens’ last words.
***
"Now, it's time to receive your title," Triens declared while he was alone in the dark space. From an outsider’s perspective, it looked like he was talking to himself. But Arima's soul was definitely there, attentively listening.
"First of all, I have to congratulate you. I know that you may dislike me for the things that happened here, but I still want to commend you for your success.”
"You passed the Life Judgement. You will break through the Heavenly Realm the moment you wake up. Thus, I have to inform you that you’ll go through the refinement ritual; the process which normally allows someone to become an Earthen God through the backing of a legend."
"What Chronepsis listed to you were titles. Your titles. As you may already know, he listed them to you in the chronological order, with Plane Guardian being the last. The two you recently got ‘officially’ are the 'Wicked One' and 'Arimane Reigen Blade'."
"Of course, the Wicked One refers to Malum and the second is merely your full name."
"Now, I'm sure you remember the next title on the line, right?" Triens smiled. "For that, they will all combine," he said and Arima became perplexed about what he meant.
"Your refinement will unfold like this; synthesis," Triens declared. "Your multiple powers are all powerful and unique and they're going to be the foundation of your strength."
"So, with the powers of Night Bahamut, the Silver Rule, the Wicked One, and Arimane R. Blade joined together, the Kind Demon will be born," Triens announced and Arima felt his soul leaving the strange world made of darkness. Just as he was about to leave completely, the darkness was suddenly replaced by a bright and colorful light.
Triens bowed. "Farewell!"
The next second, Arima opened his eyes and shattered the Life Harvest with a sweep of his hand.
***
When Arima landed, a huge cloud of dust concealed his figure. But there was something that everyone noticed; a really obvious change in his appearance. But before they could verify it, the dust was blown away and dispersed. Everyone saw a small whirlwind form afterward but there wasn’t any trace of the Life Hunter.
Before they could react, a short cry resounded. Everyone rapidly looked toward the source and when their eyes finally locked on Arima, it was as if time had stopped.
The gods looked astounded and even Ifrit stood up with a serious expression. Baphomet frowned and Azes, who was the one putting the most hopes in Arima, was also greatly shocked by the sight.
Aphrodite was gawking at the figure that was casting a shadow over her. Before she was even able to exclaim, that person had acted and Vastra was lying on the ground a few meters away from her.
She observed Arima and opened her mouth wide. Due to his skeletal structure merging with Malum, his bones changed so the rest had to adapt. His height now reached three meters. He had long silver hair that reached the middle of his back. His skin had turned grayish and almost looked like the surface of polished stone.
His facial features underwent a huge alteration too. His pupils were larger and his look was sharper than before. His irises were of a beautiful bright crimson with a hint of purple in the center of the pupil which was a slit. The luster in his eyes reflected the dignity and wisdom that should only be acquirable after thousands of years.
His usual clothes that were bound to his soul also had evolved together with him. His coat had become a lot bigger and was decorated with silver lines. Dots of light would circulate through them from time to time.
On top of that, there were purple-red ornaments and patterns that accented the stunning appearance of the clothing. And, in fact, the coat almost could be called a magnificent robe at this point.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
On the back, the robe was decorated with a single white symbol that depicted a pair of chained wings with, on top of it, a pair of horns. There were vines drawn around and encompassing everything, was a magic circle covered in runes. All of this seemingly represented the Wicked One, a Dragon, and the Silver Emperor.
And finally, of course, Arima sported a pair of large, pitch-black dragon wings. His arms were also covered in tough scales. His hands particularly seemed to look very strong like the claws of a true dragon but nonetheless remained humanoid.
“Just like this, the Kind Demon is born,” Triens's voice resounded in Arima's head.
He sighed and leisurely raised his hand covered in scales. Everyone who was looking at him trembled, dreading what he was going to do. Oddly, they couldn’t even comprehend where their fear was coming from.
"[Superbos Furore] (Pride in Wrath)," Arima intoned with a cold and deep voice.
A light flashed in his hand as he grabbed the two-barreled hand-cannon that came out of his soul. That gun was the result of Superbia’s and Ira's fusion. Its size was quite substantial and it was very hard for a human to use it. But, in contrast with Arima’s new body, it fitted perfectly and looked just like a standard-sized revolver.
He pointed his gun at Vastra's head and purple plasma filled one of the barrels while the other one produced black lightning.
"Azes, should I regard Heaven as an enemy or an ally?" Arima asked with an indifferent and overbearing tone. His voice spread easily through the silence that had been brought by his arrival. Everyone who heard it shuddered involuntarily.
Especially Aphrodite. She was shivering in fear because Arima had looked at her before voicing his question. Those eyes of his were igniting her deepest fears.
"…As long as you guarantee her survival as well, there shouldn't be any problem from the Heaven side," Azes pointed at Gabriel and answered.
"Azes!" Zeus shouted but he was wholly ignored.
Arima glanced at Gabriel and then at Lucifer who was staring at him with an uneasy expression.
"All right," he whispered and pressed the trigger without hesitation.
"Wai-!" Vastra tried to plead for her life but she could only move her hand a bit before an opaque wave of black and purple energy swallowed her and annihilated her body.
The massive magic that left Superore's muzzles continuously tore the earth for hundreds of miles even after it had killed Vastra. Ultimately, instead of losing its power and disappearing, it just went so far that no one could see it anymore.
Arima lowered his fuming gun and Aphrodite gulped. She looked ahead and saw a wide, linear crater that was still fuming and glowing red. She looked at Arima's weapon and felt terrified. Just one press of a trigger had killed Vastra. Although she was weakened, that was still overkill.
Afterward, Arima suddenly made his gun spin and pointed it to his left. Without looking, he pressed the trigger for a second time and Beelzebub's humongous body was struck directly by the two combined bullets of the hand cannon.
The demon who had been charging at Arima shifted his body to the side but half of his torso had still been seared to ashes. Beelzebub blinked at his half-destroyed body and touched his burnt injuries. A remnant of lightning electrocuted his arm and he then looked at Arima with a smirk.
His body started bulging and a huge chunk of flesh grew in his obliterated side. The flesh wriggled and then shaped itself to look like his lost limbs.
Beelzebub opened and closed his regrown fist then laughed as he threw another punch at Arima. The latter was three meters tall at the moment but the huge demon, after his Manifestation, had now become a ten-meter-tall monster.
Beelzebub’s fist became endowed with a massive amount of unstable neutral magic, ready to explode the moment it touched something.
Aphrodite who was still powerless because of the poison gasped and closed her eyes as she put her arms in front of her face. But when the detonation came, she only felt the ground rumbling under her feet and some heatwaves being released. But nothing else. She was completely fine.
"Huh?" She was surprised and opened her eyes to see a black wing deployed right in front of her.
Meanwhile, Arima was calmly blocking Beelzebub's fist with one palm. When the explosion died down, he folded back his fuming, but unscathed wing before summoning Karma in his hand.
The sword had become bigger to fit its wielder's size. He holstered Superore in an inner pocket of his robe and pushed Beelzebub away with his aura. He then unsheathed the katana right in front of the demon.
But only after a tenth of the blade was out, Arima pushed the scabbard back to the hilt. When the metallic sound rang, Beelzebub's head fell to the ground.
Aphrodite stared dumbfounded at the scene and she wasn't alone. No one on the battlefield dared to even move.
Arima held onto Karma with one hand and impassively watched as Beelzebub's body did the same thing as earlier. A lump of flesh replaced his head before literally molding itself into it. The demon was back again with his toothy smirk; alive.
"Life essence absorption… you eat the flesh of your victims and then use it to heal your wounds. Second-Degree Immortality," Arima casually threw knowledge that he should have never learned before and Beelzebub's smile twitched.
"Whatever," Arima ignored him and turned toward Aphrodite. He crouched to her level and looked at her in the eyes.
"Eh?" Even Aphrodite couldn't stay calm. Someone comes and saves her with overwhelming might and then puts his face so close to hers. It was quite ironic to see a Love Goddess flustered.
"Open your mind," Arima instructed only once and Aphrodite nervously nodded. She didn't know why he would ask that but she dropped every protection she had around her spirit and mind.
"Good. Look at me in the eyes," he ordered. His eyes glowed and Aphrodite fell in a daze as she looked at them. She then realized that something had seamlessly reached her consciousness.
A few seconds in, Beelzebub was getting restless and he kicked the ground. He jumped in the air and brought his fist down with the intent to kill both Arima and Aphrodite. But when his attack landed, he noticed that Arima wasn't there anymore.
He had reappeared next to Michael along with Aphrodite. The latter's expression was filled with shock. She had sensed it. Arima infiltrated her memories and copied everything that happened in the war to his own.
"No way… how can you manipulate memories so easily?" She muttered as Arima was looking through the information he had just taken. When he opened his eyes, he glanced at Baphomet and Ifrit before turning toward Michael.
The archangel winced when he saw Arima facing him. Even though he didn't want to admit it, he was intimidated. It felt like he was in front of a highland and could be crushed at any time.
It wasn't only Arima's height, the aura and attitude he was displaying would have been enough to frighten most people. If someone was in front of him and looked up, they would have the impression of standing in front of a real giant.
Arima looked at Gabriel who was in Michael's arms and tilted his head. "Dark-Light, huh? This is hybrid magic," he uttered. He placed his palm above Gabriel and channeled his mana. The famous illustration of yin yang formed in mid-air and then started spinning.
It didn't take long for white and black particles to leave Gabriel's body and enter the symbol. Lucifer watched with a sunken expression without daring to move. Arima dispelled his technique after a minute and waved his hand.
"[Fifth White Art, Sana Intrinsecus] (Intrinsic Heal)," he chanted and Gabriel was fully cured in the blink of an eye. She recovered completely and her injury disappeared as if it never was here. Her clothes were restored, her mana pool was envigored, and she woke up with absolutely no mental strain.
"…What's going on?" Gabriel blinked and asked dazedly when she noticed that she was in Michael's arms.
Arima stretched his neck and then eyed Lucifer.
"Let me introduce myself," his voice reached everyone on the battlefield. "I am the Kind Demon, Arimane Reigen Blade. Tell me…" he paused and his taciturn expression welcomed a relaxed smile.
"Who's next?"