The next day, Arima directly went to the frontier. When he arrived there, he spotted some soldiers marching back and forth but there wasn't any battle occurring.
He looked around with his draconic eyes. "I might as well pass by the main battlefield."
Arima transferred to a place totally devastated by the skirmishes and magic assaults. There wasn't any big fight at the moment, but the two sides were clearly opposed there. After all, it's not like people fight each second in a war. Also, the magic in this world allows the use of large-scale attacks which can annihilate a great number of people in one go, so each side has to be careful in their actions.
Arima used a detection magic and determined that this whole battlefield stretched for hundreds of miles. The number of soldiers was around fifty to a hundred thousand on each side. The number of deaths amounted to twenty thousand on the Kingdom's side and ten thousand on the Empire's.
Arima then teleported again and appeared in the sky, two hundred miles away from where he was just before. He pushed through every defensive magic formation he stumbled on and flapped his wings to stay stationary.
"[Superbia]," he called his rifle and pointed it at the ground. At the end of Arima's sight was a small fortified camp, he was aiming at a huge tent in the middle.
"[Gun Metuunt Blasphemantes] (Rail Gun)," he chanted and the barrel of his gun began to emit a dense black light. Inside the chamber of the gun, the adamantite bullet was vibrating and spinning at an unimaginable speed.
Arima pressed the trigger and the bullet flew along with all the plasma accumulated. The projectile became a huge black pillar that descended and literally annihilated the tent and everyone inside. After the pillar vanished, a bottomless-looking hole was left there.
Before anyone could react, the Empire's chain of command had been destroyed.
"{How much?}" Night asked Arima during the resonance.
"40%."
Night felt a chill when he heard that. This meant that Arima had just used 40% percent of the gun's full potential without any enhancement circles and only lightning magic.
"That was better than expected," Arima smiled. He looked at his gun before storing it back. He glanced at the chaotic camp below. "This should be enough for now."
Following that, Arima headed to the nearest city because it was where the Emperor was temporarily staying. Once he reached his destination, he sneaked inside the city and quickly located the biggest structure with the most stationed guards.
Arima didn't want to waste time. He directly rushed in the open and killed the guards in front with Ira. According to the rumors, the Emperor was extremely strong. If he could kill him with a surprise attack, it would be a huge economy of time and effort.
He jumped really high and placed himself above the residence. He wasn't about to use Superbia. If the Emperor is as strong as the rumors tell, he should be able to avoid it because the only demerit of this weapon, along with Ira, was that the attacks followed a straight line. Even if the pillar from before was only 40%, it could be more powerful, but it couldn't be much wider.
"[Pentagram Caelesti - Clara Iudicium] (Heavenly Pentagram - Bright Judgment)."
Arima chanted and an enormous purple circle formed above the whole residence. On the latter was the famous and well-known depiction of a pentagram.
"[Ultimum Praecantatio - Stabat Nubes Perosus Intercisis] (Ultimate magic - Severing Cloud Pillar)."
Arima finished his chant and the pentagram glowed. The earth shook and a purple light blinded everyone around. The light seemed to be produced by anything that was under the circle. Any kind of matter under it would start to emit light on its own.
It lasted for a second before everything exploded into a frightening huge pillar that went as high as the clouds were. When the light died down, what remained wasn't a hole or a crater. It could just be described in one word; nothing. The buildings, and everything other than the soil and vegetation had been turned into to dust.
What was left was just a perfectly flat terrain. But Arima wasn't happy, he looked into another direction and clicked his tongue.
A man in his 40s with a few gray hairs was standing outside of the zone of effect. His body was in tatters and blood was dripping from the corner of his mouth. It was the Emperor. Although he looked like he escaped the magic, he actually barely saved himself with a spatial technique.
He looked in shock at Arima. To answer if the Emperor was strong, it was yes. His strength was around the eighth level. But the man he was looking at, almost killed him in one attack. He gritted his teeth.
"Liano!"
He called, and a big lion appeared. "[Resonance]!" The beast and the human alike shouted at the same time. When the resonance was over, the Emperor had obtained golden pupils and hair, his teeth and nails had been sharpened, and his body size had increased by two times.
He kicked the ground and charged at Arima. On the other side, Night had already resonated with Arima before even entering this city.
When their fists met, Arima held an obvious advantage. The Emperor felt a great pain coursing through his arm. He kicked Arima and the latter parried with his other arm and countered. For a few seconds that felt like minutes, the two clashed with their fists and kicks.
The shock waves of the fight destroyed the structures in a hundred meters' radius.
The Emperor drew the sword he carried at his belt and slashed at his opponent. Arima flapped his wings and retreated.
He stared at the Emperor and smiled. "My name is Arimane Blade," he introduced himself and summoned Karma.
The Emperor seemed to hesitate but eventually replied. "…I'm Kalsus Kation."
Arima nodded and wielded Karma skillfully. He swung his katana at Kalsus and the King responded by deflecting the strike with his sword and sending a punch to Arima's chest.
"[Propero]," Arima rotated and evaded the strike. He swapped Karma's sheath with Ira and pointed the gun at the Emperor's head. Kalsus's eyes narrowed and urgently tilted his head just before Arima could shoot. Exploiting that opening, Arima conjured a dark sphere of flames and lightning and hit Kalsus with it.
The Emperor was struck by a large explosion and coughed some blood. His resonance almost stopped there. At that moment, he had already realized that he couldn't win against Arima and now, he was seriously injured while the other party was still unscathed.
He pulled out a strange stone. It was golden in color and the size of a fist. He clenched the stone and broke it barehanded. After that, a golden aura enveloped his arm until the shoulder. He roared like a lion and the whole area became covered in a golden light.
Even Arima was pressured.
In the sky, a golden sun, the size of an entire castle, materialized.
Arima's eyes narrowed. 'What the hell was that stone?' He couldn't even use any spatial magic because that golden sun was disturbing space itself. He called back his scabbard and sheathed Karma.
He took an Iai stance. Black flames and lightning gathered, not only around his sword but also around him in a ten meters' radius. He also created a silver magic circle at his feet to stabilize and condense the fire and the lightning.
"[Terra Aeterna] (Eternal Night Over the World)."
Right when the golden sun started falling, Arima unleashed his technique. The two attacks clashed with one another. The moon was battling the sun.
The dark moon and the golden sun exploded together when they couldn't sustain themselves anymore. A huge shock wave spread throughout the city. The unfortunate souls that were still nearby saw their flesh literally melt. Countless buildings collapsed and some remnant energy set fire to the ruins.
Kalsus and Arima had protected themselves with their respective protective magic.
Arima scowled at Kalsus. "[Dimensiva Gradus] (Dimensional Step)."
He took a step on thin air and it felt like time stopped. The air around his feet cracked like a mirror, he vanished and reappeared in front of the Emperor almost instantly.
He grabbed his throat. "That was a good fight," he commended and his eyes flared with a blue flame. Kalsus' eyes burned with the same light until they were petrified. In contrast with the slave dealer, he didn't raise his voice even once as he died.
Arima cremated his body and analyzed the memories he had just collected. His eyes widened then looked at some place far away.
"{What do we do? We have another problem now,}" Night said after skimming over the Emperor's memories as well.
Arima released the resonance. "We'll have to go take a detour," he said to Night who reappeared as a dragon beside him.
"Let's go," he added and fixed his coat before teleporting away. Not to the capital, the Holy City, but a mountain not far from it.
***
Meanwhile, inside a strange golden room. A young-looking man was staring at an image reflected by some intriguing clouds.
That image was precisely Arima fighting Kalsus. The image displayed the whole fight until it lost sight of Arima.
The man dispersed the clouds. "Who is that human? He doesn't have a soul imprint. Why?" He muttered and closed his eyes in wonder.
***
Arima was now on a snowy mountain with Night.
When he looked around, he sighed. "Why is he staying here?"
"Maybe he likes that kind of environment," Night guessed as he followed Arima.
They walked for a few minutes until they found the entrance to a cave. They stepped inside and the more they ventured, the wider it became until they arrived at a large open space.
And in the center, a huge shadow was lying down. When Arima and Night intruded its lair, the figure moved and approached them right away. When the creature's head was just above them, they instantly recognized it.
It was a sky dragon. A sky dragon was hibernating there. In terms of size, it was even bigger than Jorga. His body was blue like crystal and he had similarly colored eyes with many contrasts to it.
"Human, why are you here?" The dragon spoke up. At that very moment, Arima felt it. This dragon was at the ninth level. The pinnacle of this continent.
For reference, Arima's strength was comparable to the upper class of level eight. When he resonates with Night, he can go up to the ninth level. He also had three hidden cards but two of them were things he didn't wish to use if possible.
For instance, the Emperor possessed strength at the pinnacle of level eight as well, but his resonance was much weaker and Arima had also taken the first strike.
All in all, Arima wasn't so confident in winning against this dragon. At least, not without sacrificing something.
He sighed. 'But I have no choice, what a stroke of bad luck.' He looked at the dragon. "Why did you become the guardian of the Holy City?"
What Arima had learned from Kalsus was that the Pope convinced this dragon to be their guardian in an unknown way.
The dragon frowned. "What will you do with that information?"
Arima scratched his head awkwardly. "Well, I'm kind of in the process of destroying this country, don't you pay attention to what's going on outside?"
The huge sky dragon had a sudden change in his expression. "You cannot do that!" He shouted and the cave shook as he moved his body. He seemed to be panicked more than angry.
"Do you have some kind of motive for protecting them?" Night asked.
The dragon looked at him and was momentarily stunned. "You are a noble one…!"
Night nodded in return and Arima remembered a certain detail. As a noble breed, Night was a respected existence among the dragon race.
"Tell us. If the Pope promised you something, I'll get it for you and he if is forcing you to help him, I'll take care of it."
The dragon turned toward Arima. Of course, he had already estimated Arima's strength to be similar to his own. He didn't wish to fight as well.
"…He has my child. He dared to take it while I was absent for a day," he said while gritting his teeth, the sound echoed in the cave.
"Your child?"
"He still didn't hatch, he threatened to kill it if I didn't accept to become their guardian."
"That's all?"
"What?" The dragon glared at him.
"No, I mean, if I act, he won't threaten me with the egg because they can't know that I have any connection with you. Actually, I just have to secure your child and then take care of the Pope after. You might be unable to sneak into the city, but I can easily do that," Arima said matter-of-factly.
"Ah…" The dragon realized that what he said wasn't wrong. "Then, I will have to trouble you… But if you get caught, I won't be in condition to refuse their orders."
"Don't worry about that. I specialize in assassination originally," Arima smiled. "Also, if you want to thank me, I would like you to preserve the peace in this continent in the future."
The dragon nodded. "If you save my child, I will happily do that."
Arima left afterward. When he was outside the case, he stopped for a moment and breathed in.
"It went a lot better than I thought…"
"Indeed," Night agreed.
The two looked at each other. "This guy's easy."