Chapter 148: If I die today, this world is not doing its job. (1/2)

Arima and Malum had both lost consciousness. Normally, they should be able to resist emotional shocks. At least, enough to not lose composure. But this time, it was different.

They possessed millions of different memories and emotions in their head. Even they were not able to control that turmoil of emotions and were defeated by it.

Arima didn't know what was happening around him. His mind would rewind the scene he witnessed indefinitely. The death of his loved ones, including Tieria and Scatha and all of the others he shouldn't have known but whom he still cared about unconsciously.

Arima could only see darkness around him, nothing more, nothing less. His mind was also recovering at its own pace. But at the same time, it felt like he was slowly sinking.

His thoughts turned blank after a while. He felt like his own existence was fading away. But when he was about to lose that last wisp of consciousness, he heard voices calling him.

”Hey! Arima, wake up!” He heard Night's shout.

”Arima! Open your eyes!” It was Karma's voice that echoed next. When he heard their voices, Arima's spirit shook and he began to reinforce his mind. He remembered that he had something to do.

Arima struggled then exerted all of his willpower. He opened his eyes and suddenly regained consciousness. He blinked and looked at Triens who was unperturbedly smiling. After that, his vision distorted and he grunted. He grabbed the side of his head and stumbled. He felt extremely tired and was pushing himself to not collapse.

Arima glanced at his right to see Malum madly trying to erase the emotions he was feeling. He was growling to keep his mind straight and a dark mist whirled around him.

Although Malum was a being made of negative emotions, he was born with a rational mind. Even if he was created from madness, he could not feed on it.

”It seems that you barely managed to survive the 'pain ordeal',” Triens spoke. Neither Arima or Malum had the strength to retort or get angry at him. They just listened as they rested their mind and soul. ”To be honest with you, I half-expected you to fail. But, unexpectedly, you managed to pass thanks to the efforts of both of you. Although you suffered the same shock, you shared it without even noticing. You too, Arima. Your soul beasts helped you. This is quite a special situation you are in. Normally, no Life Hunter should have survived a Judgment so hard,” Triens casually explained and clapped.

”With this said, there's not much to hide now,” Triens shrugged. ”The next test is the last one. The 'rage' ordeal,” he declared and the two who were 'tested' glared at him.

”I'll let you rest for a moment. The final trial will begin soon,” Triens added and disappeared. Only leaving a small orb of light to illuminate the place.

Arima relaxed all of his muscles, from which he was squeezing the last drops of strength, and immediately sat down. He sighed and then laid down on his back.

”{Are you okay?}” Karma asked worriedly.

”Yeah… I think so,” Arima answered with a somber tone that couldn't be heard from him usually. His emotions were still in a chaotic state but weak enough for him to restrain them.

”{Hey, what do you think of him?}” Night suddenly inquired as he sent a cognitive message to Arima, telling him to look at Malum.

Arima looked at his right and saw the three meters tall skeleton barely holding in his emotions and gritting his teeth. ”Hey,” he called and Malum grunted in response.

”You better not snap. At least fuse with me before you do so,” Arima said and his counterpart snorted.

”Why should I listen to you?”

”There are a lot of why's actually. But my main worry is that if you are destroyed then I will follow suit. And that's not something I wish for,” Arima replied.

”Is that so?” Malum snickered. ”Aren't you the one who wanted to die a few decades ago?”

Arima raised his eyebrow, he sat up and gazed at Malum. ”These are different matters. Don't even dream that I would keel over because of your words. On top of that, you were most likely born because of that period of my life. You have nothing to say.”

Malum laughed and straightened his spine. He seemed to have regained some of his composure and stared back at Arima.

”I have no intention to give this up deliberately.”

When he said that, Triens came back and flashed a composed smile. ”Let's continue”

”You call that a rest?” Arima retorted as he stood up.

”Of course, it should be enough for you,” Triens clapped. ”It's time for the last trial. For this test, there's only one rule: watch,” he emphasized and both Arima and Malum were perplexed.

”Also… don't move. If you go against this rule, you'll die,” Triens casually informed them and like before, he snapped his fingers and a figure started forming beside him.

Arima and Malum silently observed, apprehensively. They had a really bad experience from last time. When the appearance of the person was completely visible, Arima and Malum froze.

”You never met him. But I gave you the favor of planting it inside your mind,” Triens uttered as he pointed at the man next to him.

Dark clothes, sharp and cold white eyes, and a suffocating aura of darkness. It was the person Arima hated the most, the one he swore to chase until his own death. Triens had just transferred Karaskan's appearance in Arima and Malum's minds.

”Hey… what's the meaning of this?” Malum's voice sounded even eerier than before and it carried a strong slaughter intent. The flames in his eye sockets turned from purple to a bright crimson. And surprisingly, he wasn't alone as Arima's eyes were slowly turning bloodshot too.

Although he covered his eyes with his hand, he was still clenching his fists and trembling. It wasn't only because Karaskan appeared in front of him. From a rational point of view, Arima could easily calm himself down if he reminded himself that it was a fake.

But what was really putting Arima and Malum in such a state were the visions they were suddenly experiencing. Visions from when the Chaos Seed twisted their lives in the worst way possible. The Life Judgement was forcing them to replay that scene over and over again.

”This is the final trial,” Triens answered Malum. ”If you can get past this, you'll have finished the Life Judgement.” He then spread his arms open. Once again, a great number of silhouettes formed everywhere.

When Arima and Malum looked at them, their countenance suffered an even bigger change. Countless memories burst into their minds. All of them were about people that killed or robbed what was dear to them.

”Fuck!” Malum cursed loudly. He was shaking uncontrollably and his aura was also escaping his body. This fact surprised Arima who had been able to bear the rage a lot better than Malum.