Chapter 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 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 had been 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 these blades and an ear-deafening sound resonated; a sort of metallic and high-pitched noise. Arima stood on an invisible surface when he was struck by the lich, that surface cracked and made the sound of glass breaking. It felt like the Reality itself was being compromised.

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

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

Each one of their strikes could lead to massive destruction but their control was so perfect that the force of their blows 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 hit. 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 the 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 shifted his body and dodged the bullets. He pulled back his sword then slashed with the other.

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

Aeshma surfaced and covered his body to form something like a demonic armor. Arima breathed in and spun his gun with 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 shined and he moved extremely fast to avoid the sword.

”[Third Red Art, Semita Vitisque Repertor] (Pathfinder),” he moved past the lich's guard and punched him directly in the abdomen. The cloaked undead gritted his teeth. Arima was now completely unguarded for him to strike. He used his second sword to exploit the opportunity.

Arima's eyes rolled. He turned his back to 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 thrown it earlier 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 experienced it.

”[First Destruction Art, Comoediae Mundi] (World's Comedy).”

A dreadful aura escaped Arima's body as the lich turned into particles.

Arima nearly fell unconscious when it was 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 amount 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 he 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 dream about taking care of the remaining Guardians since he knew the last three of them were probably at the same place, waiting for him 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 returned.

”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. He closed his eyes and his mind entered a passive 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 asserted its influence.