Raylein was lazing around on the roof a building while gazing at the sky. The clock was about to finish the cycle. He was waiting for this for a month now. It was finally going to be time.
As he was dozing off while watching the clouds move and their forms change, a crackling sound resounded around him. "Huh?" He sat up and looked around.
At the same time, a huge pressure fell on Earth. Glass fissured everywhere and the ground started trembling. The stars suddenly became brighter and began to blink. The inhabitants of the Earth felt a sudden weight being placed on their shoulders and some even collapsed.
"What the…" Raylein muttered in confusion then the pressure increased again. He stood up and teleported. He reappeared in front of the door Arima had created to connect his soul realm. He opened it and stepped inside.
When he got through, his eyes narrowed. A silver aura manifested around him to lessen the pressure. Raylein looked around with a furrowed eyebrow.
It was the first time he entered this realm but he didn't have time to admire it. His thoughts were occupied by the source of the pressure he was suffering from. There was no one around but the kind of force which was put on him was almost as fierce as a Plane Guardian. It wasn't as powerful per se, but the quality and density were. It was already surprising enough that an aura could escape the confinement of a soul realm too.
Raylein took another step and teleported somewhere else. He ended up standing right between Arima and Malum who seemed to be struggling about something.
"Move," Arima slowly said and Raylein frowned before backing away. Arima and Malum were shrouded with white and black energy that was spreading around like a spider net.
Raylein teleported again and this time joined Layla, Karma, and Night. He also noticed that they were all Transcendentals. There wasn't any change to their appearance though.
Transcendence was something that changed the composition of the body but it was quite discreet about it. So, he didn't even know what kind of body those three had ended up with. It was unique for everyone.
But he wasn't curious about that. "What's happening?"
Layla's expression turned odd. "I don't know. Arima and Malum were the last ones who needed to convert their life force. And since they are the same person, they needed to do it together."
"Then, this happened. They slowly started losing control over something. At first, they were fine but both of their countenances changed after a few hours. They told us to get away then they suddenly let out this aura," Karma explained after Layla.
"This shouldn't happen…" Raylein was perplexed. "Tell me, what kind of being is Malum exactly?"
"Malum is Arima's counterpart. He is born from the condensation of Arima's dark side. But even though he is supposed to be a gathering of ill emotions, his personality isn't that different from Arima since he didn't have a bad side, to begin with. In the end, the two share the same mana pool and soul," Night answered to him.
"What?" Raylein exclaimed. "The same? The exact same?"
"Yes."
Raylein seemed to be agitated. "That's not possible. Two beings cannot share the same soul. Even you who are his soul beast; you have your own soul. But one soul for two different beings is unheard of…"
"I don't know how it happened. But if they're trying to convert their life force like that, the result could be uncalled for."
"Why?"
"Transcendence is not that hard. As long as you know what you're doing, there's no risk of dying. The life force is converted by condensing it then connecting it directly to the magic circuits."
"In consequence, your body will be altered depending on how you converted it; with what kind of attribute, theory, method… After that, you'll get a different body which should change your entire genetic code," Raylein explained.
"The problem right now is that Malum possesses a body of his own, and a mind of his own. It shouldn't be possible, and that's why I assumed Malum was a separate being from Arima. I can't say for sure how it happened, but basically, they're both trying to change their respective bodies, which are completely different, while using the same catalyst; their soul."
"I think that they agreed on what kind of body they should get but there must still be some dissimilarities because they don't have the same way of thinking," Raylein scratched his head with a difficult expression. "I have no idea how this will end. I can't even imagine what would happen if they achieve it."
Layla stared at Arima and Malum. "There's nothing we can do to help them?"
"No," Raylein immediately responded. "We might just hinder them and cause their failure."
***
"{Are we actually going down because of our own aura?}" Malum ridiculed himself as he went on his knees along with Arima.
As he said, they were not only experiencing some incomprehensible phenomenon but they were also being pressured by their combined aura.
"{That's stupid,}" Arima uttered.
Malum snorted. "{You're sure you're converting your life force the way we decided?}"
"{I am,}" Arima grunted. "{I'd say it's you who isn't.}"
"{Oh, you're sure about that?}"
The two glared at each other but the aura once again weighed on them.
"{I think it's because of our bodies,}" Arima alleged. "{If I'm not wrong, you have absorbed too much life essence during the Life Judgment and got yourself a pseudo-physical body. Now, we are trying to alter our bodies, which are not the same, with the same life force and soul.}"
"{So, what do you propose? We'll kick the bucket at this rate. I hope you didn't forget about this bomb which you just created too. If you die now, it will detonate.}"
"{I know,}" Arima replied. "{You thought I could forget that? The way to get out of this is simple; get rid of your body.}"
"{Huh? Why should I? If I ever throw this one away, I'll never get one again. And how do you want me to do that anyway?}"
"{You just have to fuse with me.}"
"{Fuse with you? Like the Final Resonance?}"
"{No, a definitive one. Creating a new body with the two we have right now.}"
"{It would work but I'm not sure if I want to do that.}"
"{Just do it. If you want a body that much, I'll just create a clone or a homunculus for you to play around with. Now let's go, I don't want to die for this.}"
"{…Goddammit, why do I always get the short end every time?}" He grumbled and smirked. "{I hope you're not scared of becoming half-bones, half-flesh!}" He cackled and mustered his remaining mana. Arima did the same and they cast a certain magic at the same time.
"[Third Forbidden Art, Essentia Dominus] (Essence Domination)," the Law of Life was invoked.
"An OWL?" Raylein muttered. "The Life Law… it's doable."
Layla glanced at him. "Have you ever used a Law?
Raylein nodded. "Once, I used the Law of Fate. But it was a special case. I normally can't use any OWL for my own needs. The only people who can wield them among the Guardians are the First, the Fifth, and the Seventh."
He smiled wryly. "And apparently, Arima can use them as much as he wants…"
"No," Night retorted and Raylein looked at him in surprise. "Arima can't use them freely. It has never been the case. The Forbidden Arts were made for him to be able to control them. Therefore, you have to question how he made that happen."
"There are conditions, or to be exact, stipulations. Each time Arima uses a Law, he makes a contract. Not with something like the Original God, of course, but with the World itself. For example, the easiest Law to summon is Libra. For that, you just have to bet something and don't need anything more."
"But for the Laws like Death, Life, Fate, Truth, or Continuity, he has to sacrifice or let go of something," Night explained and glanced at the confounded Layla. "I don't think you know since Arima must have blocked those memories."
"You'll learn it pretty soon, so I'll say it anyway. When he used Life to fuse Lanya and Lilis, he paid for it. That day… he lost his sense of taste," Night declared and Layla's eyes narrowed. She felt like her heart had just been squeezed. Even Raylein's eyes widened. "And that's something which will never be recovered. That's the price of using a Law."
"Of course, for Arima, taste isn't important at all. Even now, he still eats sweets as if it was the same. It's a sort of stress reliever for him anyway," Night smiled but Layla's expression was not getting better. It was getting worse every second passing.
She was not that worried about Arima's taste. Although she felt so guilty that she could scream right here and now, she didn't have the time to care about that. There was something else that was a lot more urgent.
"Wait, does that mean he's about to sacrifice another sense right now?" Raylein inquired hastily.
Night shrugged. "Of course," he answered calmly but Layla's expression sunk. "That's why Arima said that he would only be able to use this particular Art three times. Because he has only three senses that he is prepared to discard."
"Which ones?"
"The first one is, obviously, taste. Then between, touch, hearing, sight, and smell, Arima concluded that it was his sight which was the less needed."
Layla gritted her teeth. She was almost about to cry. "Why so?"
"Because Arima has a perfect sixth sense. He also has mana and aura detection. In a fight, for him, touch, smell, and hearing are the only ones remotely important. Because they are the only senses which are not limited in their own right. For instance, to see behind you, you need to turn your head, that's not the case for smell and hearing," Night explained and sighed.
"What's the third one?" Raylein asked.
"Smell. That's the last one, Arima predicts that he would become crazy if he goes further."
Everyone fell silent and when Karma saw that Night wasn't going to say anything else, she stepped forward toward Layla.
"Don't worry about that. Let's just hope his transcendence will go well," she said and Layla nodded slowly.
***
"{I have to say, the kind of transcendence you chose is fascinating… Shit, I can't see anything already.}"
In the middle of a huge irradiance of white, Arima and Malum were talking together.
"{Well, this body is going to be quite special indeed.}"
"{Though, why do you stick so much to human nature?}" Malum asked and Arima chuckled.
"{Why? Am I not human for you?}" He uttered and Malum laughed. "{That's your answer.}"
"{Fair enough. Don't die on me, Arimane Reigen Blade!}"
"{Same goes for you, Malum Reigen Nosferatu.}"