Chapter 248: What a novel idea. (2/2)
The skeleton roared and approached the lich as much as it could. Fortunately, the First Blue Art was an exorcising flame so it had quite the advantage over death energies. When the skeleton was close enough, the flames composing it turned purple, then red, orange, red, yellow before cycling back to blue. When that phenomenon ended, the skeleton blew up and bathed space in a sea of blue flames.
Meanwhile, Arima had already shifted his focus back onto the dark elf. The time it took for him to cast 'Estuans Sors' had already been enough for her to enchant her arrows and shoot them.
The three projectiles flew toward the black hole and halted unnaturally before they could be consumed. The three arrows were connected together by a thread of light and formed a triangle. Inside of it, runes were rapidly being drawn.
Arima conjured the Fifth Blue Art multiple times to hinder it but it was already too late. The formation marked by the arrows reversed the black hole and made it close on itself.
When the black mass disappeared, the blank it left behind was instantly filled with azure flames and the aftermath thwarted Arima's attacks.
He flapped his wings in the middle of that sea of fire that showed no sign of calming down. He still could hear the planets and stars manipulated by the lich exploding and burning down. It seemed that he was using them to shield himself.
As for the dark-elf, she wasn't affected by the flames because Akoman and Aeshma were redirecting all of the destructive power of the Art on the lich; causing the flames outside the epicenter to not be more threatening than the ones coming out of a lighter.
Arima flew through the fire and left a trail behind him as he neared the dark-elf. Because of the lich, space had been locked away and he couldn't teleport anymore. His power to manipulate spatial energy was formidable but it could be countered if someone with great ability in spatial magic locked the dimensions.
The dark-elf reacted to Arima's charge by firing a volley of arrows. Each projectile she shot would split and pierce their target.
”[Fourth Destruction Art, Vashta Nerada] (The Shadow that Melts the Flesh).”
The shadows came out of Arima's body and melted most of the arrows coming toward him. He also fired Superore many times to deflect them and even summoned Az to help. But the dark elf's control and enchantments were virtually perfect. Some of the arrows still hit their mark.
Three of them to be exact. One pierced Arima's left shoulder, the second one pierced his abdomen, and the third one nearly went through his heart and grazed it before coming out on the other side. Arima's huge body shadowed the dark elf's even with the light of the flames raging around them.
As Arima was about to strike and take her life force, the dark-elf didn't show any sign of resignation and actually grabbed a luxurious golden arrow while dropping her bow. She shortly shouted and dispersed the flames for a second as she propelled herself toward Arima. She whirled and stabbed the arrow in his chest. The golden projectile released an overwhelming pressure and a crack appeared on Arima's body.
The crack caused many others to appear. They glowed strongly then Arima exploded and created an empty area in the sea of flames.
Blood was dripping down the elven woman's hand as she panted. She relaxed briefly but then her eyes narrowed. She started hearing muffled sounds that gradually became stronger and stronger. The clearer it became, the colder she felt.
She slowly turned her head to the right and saw a creepy phantom whispering in her ear. It was the same at her left; another phantom was there doing the same thing.
They were Saurva and Mithandruj. The former was making her already weakened-self ill while the latter was showing her an illusion. She paled and gulped. When the realization hit her, a certain presence was back just behind her. She closed her eyes and awaited her fate.
Arima squinted his eyes. He pulled out the arrow planted in his shoulder and used life hunt on the dark-elf. He then made a magic barrier around her so that she won't die and threw her in a certain direction with all of his physical strength. The dark-elf was sent somewhere she would be able to rebuild herself.
”I won't kill you. I'll be content with this bastard,” Arima muttered coldly as the flames of Estuans Sors vanished.
The lich's figure could be seen again. His cloak was slightly burnt and you could see that he was a bit tired. A moment of silence was established as Arima and the lich stared at each other.
A few minutes later, the lich dashed and left an afterimage. His red and green swords were swung from two opposite angles. Arima gritted his teeth and formed a weapon from lightning. He met one of the swords with Superore and parried the other with his newly created weapon.
The moment his lightning weapon came into contact with the red sword of the enemy, it was already threatening to break. Arima grunted and made the weapon self-destruct. He rode the explosion to pull back Superore and fire at the lich's head. The metal mask was destroyed by the bullet and revealed a half-flesh and half-bone face.
”You will die today!” The lich shouted and wielded his swords again. The staff he had summoned earlier hovered above him and fought against Aeshma with non-elemental magic.
Arima barely could keep up with the lich's swordplay.
'It's during times like this that I realize how important Karma is…' Arima lamented when his seventh lightning weapon broke. Then, his pupils suddenly dilated as he caught a glimpse of his gun. Black lightning abruptly erupted and separated the lich and Arima.
The Ancient Demon laughed as he looked at Superore.
”Right! Why did I never think about that?” He said to himself and started chanting something.
”[Et scan corrumpatur] (Scan and decompose).”
”[Post quod restituo] (Alter and restore).”
”[Et duplicare gemmarii sculpes] (Engrave and duplicate).”
”[Et conversum imperium] (Control and convert).”
”[Perdere crea] (Destroy and create).”
A complex magic circle was formed and Arima put Superore inside of it. At the same time, a white object appeared in his left hand. Superore made a bending noise and was covered by a white illuminance.