"Seriously, what the hell is going on?!" Chulainn roared with his three heads. He was in his full-sized form at the moment. Beside him were Rex and Hieran, massively emitting their aura and mana.
On their back stood everyone else, releasing their energy as if it depended on their lives. A giant magic circle had been drawn on the ground and Evergreen's mother tree was linking every forest of the planet together while Rex was connecting every living being.
"I don't know! This is definitely his aura but I feel like there's something wrong," Arister replied to Chulainn. He had already summoned his spartan equipment, and his spear was being used as a catalyst to maintain the circle they had set down.
A few minutes ago, a sudden pressure fell on Earth. It wasn't that strong at first but it soon became so strong it couldn't be ignored. It was going to kill all the weaker individuals on this planet.
The 'teachers' then gathered and were now protecting the people from the still increasing pressure. Even the academy's students joined in to send their mana into the circle. It was only thanks to Rex and Evergreen that they could connect and protect more than nine billion people. But they weren't the only ones they had to protect. There were animals and insects as well. Even the smallest beings had to be defended to save a planet.
"This pressure… how strong did Teacher become?" Ofia contemplated as she was resonating with her sister.
Arister snickered. "I'm sure at least that he would be able to protect these people even better than us with just a snap of his fingers." When he said that, the circle they had drawn started cracking. "…I should've just shut my mouth."
After that, it was a chain reaction and everything else started fissuring like glass. When it was about to completely break, the earth shook and an extremely deep and resounding voice spread across the planet's surface.
The magic circle finally failed to hold out but a magnificent beast with two pairs of white-feathered wings descended from the sky and started flying above everyone. Deva opened her mouth and a short cry reached the group below. It was as if she was saying that she would take over. As a matter of fact, the pressure caused by Arima's transcendence had been stopped.
Chulainn sighed and sat down on the ground loudly. "So that's why he didn't care… Deva was here."
Arister stretched a little and jumped off from Chulainn's head.
"To be honest, I never knew when Arima was doing something on purpose or not," Jin said. "Even from the time he was still ten years old, he was so meticulous I wondered what was going through his head."
"Do you think he let this happen on purpose?" Evergreen frowned then looked at all the students lying exhausted around them. "…What kind of person would think of this way of training?"
Jin laughed. "Are you asking seriously?"
The dryad revealed a rare smile at his words. "I suppose we already know, huh?"
Rex hummed silently and walked toward Hieran. "{Hey, don't you feel like there's a peculiar thing going on with these two?}"
Hieran scowled and turned his head to observe Evergreen and Jin. "{It's not a bad thing. If he can take that woman, I won't be unhappy to not have to deal with her anymore.}"
"Oh, true," Rex nodded.
A moment after that, Deva looked at the sky and watched as the needle reached the XII on the clock's dial. A booming sound echoed. It was a very loud alarm reaching everyone on Earth. The pressure disappeared instantly and a bright light covered Aurorae's HQ.
***
Arima exhaled. In the middle of this blinding light, he waved his hand and the illumination itself was cut as if it was paper.
His appearance had not changed but something was chilling about him. He was just standing still with his eyes closed. He wasn't moving nor was he saying anything. But even so, even Raylein felt like he was in the presence of an untouchable master.
Arima stepped forward and purple lightning erupted at his feet. It was small but each strand of electricity contained enough power to destroy the moon.
He made another step and this time it was fire; purple fire. As he walked, different elements were cast; water, ice, earth, spirit, and wind... They all made their appearance. Each one of them was also either purple or surrounded by a purple hue.
Layla, Night, and Karma were watching dumbfounded while Raylein had an odd expression.
"Do you remember the method to become a Silver Emperor?" Arima's voice suddenly jolted their minds. "You first have to combine every element. It is only possible to do so when you have Absolute Dominance over all of them."
"Afterward, you combine Darkness and Light. Then, you blend the whole thing," Arima told as he walked toward them. "I went back to the sources and took the Omni element. I integrated it to my transcendence and without changing my DNA, I altered my body's ability to withstand elemental magic."
Raylein's expression twitched multiple times. Every time Arima explained further, he had an even harder time believing it.
"Don't tell me...?" He laughed wryly and rubbed his face. "No way…"
"What does that mean?" Karma asked Night, but even he didn't know. She then turned toward Layla and saw that she was gaping the latter was gaping with evident shock.
"Elemental absorption!" She exclaimed. "He really did it? He used the human genome to make a body capable of absorbing elements..."
"In other words, elemental magic, or any kind of energy using elements, will not work on him anymore," Raylein followed with a wry smile. "He should even be able to absorb them to use it as his source of energy."
Night's eyes widened. "As if he had not enough mana to spare already…"
Arima snorted and stopped in front of them. When he arrived, everyone noticed that he still had not opened his eyes. Layla was about to say something when Arima waved his hand at her.
He sighed and covered his eyes with his palm. He remained still for a few minutes and no one talked. He then slowly moved his hand away as his eyelids were lifted.
When his eyes opened, magic circles that couldn't even be read with the Gods' Language abruptly came out of them. Each time becoming bigger as they estranged from Arima. When the circles vanished, his eyes were completely opened. His group looked at him with solemn expressions.
They were still glowing with a beautiful silver but they were unfocused and reflected no light or image. It was incredibly stunning and languishing at the same time. Even if his eyes were unfocused, they were more dazzling than ever and appeared more serene.
Arima blinked a few times then moved his pupils. They accurately switched between the four persons in front of him. It was oddly overbearing and could make you feel extremely weak-willed.
"It's not that bad," Arima remarked. "I just need to get used to it. Also, although I'm pretty sure it isn't the case; Karma, Night, do you have any problem with your eyesight?"
Night sighed and shrugged. "No, at least, I don't"
"Me too," Karma followed.
"Well, you'll experience it if you ever resonate with me," Arima declared and Night raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"The loss of my eyesight is not something physical. It's a Law. I'm forever prohibited to ever look at something. If you resonate with me, I will still be unable to see and so will you. I also can't look at images from another's memory nor can I look through someone else's eyes," he added and Raylein eyes widened.
"That's a tough restriction."
"…Can I ask you something?" Layla raised her voice and Arima redirected his eyes toward her. "When you used the 'Golden Phoenix', what did you use as compensation?"
"…For the Dark Phoenix, the price is one's life energy. As for the Golden Phoenix, I need to give something else…" Arima uttered. "And that's emotions. I lost an emotion in the literal sense."
Layla's expression darkened. "Which one?"
Arima smiled. "Don't worry. One that I never used in the first place; shame," he stated and Layla hated herself for almost laughing. She calmed herself and smiled.
"Fine. That's your choice anyway."
"Shame, huh?" Night mused. "It's true that you never had shame. You only have morals and common sense, I guess."
"As you say. But I can't abuse this kind of thing too. Even if there are several useless emotions, if you erase them, you'll lose your sanity soon enough. You might even die because of it," he explained and Layla's smile froze.
She approached Arima and threw a punch at him. He didn't even need to see to avoid it.
"Don't dodge!" Layla shouted just after.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Arima smiled. "Why did you do that anyway?"
"Because someone just keeps worrying me for everything he does!"
"I wonder who that is," Arima feigned and brought back everyone on top of Aurorae's main building. He raised his head and sensed Deva flying around. "Good job," he said and she responded with a short cry.
"Let's gather everyone then," he declared and snapped his fingers. Fifteen figures appeared around him without any delay. He even created an invisible platform in midair for Hieran, Rex, and Chulainn to stand on.
"This signs the end of this little teaching episode. Thank you for answering my call," Arima spoke and they all spotted his figure. They had been teleported so suddenly that they didn't know what was happening until they heard Arima's voice.
"You seem to be going well," he when he felt Jin's aura.
The latter was the first person who noticed something was wrong with Arima's eyes. "What happened?"
"Too long to explain. It's nothing to fret about," Arima shrugged and Jin furrowed. "Anyway, do you all think your students are ready?"
"They are," they all answered at the same time. Even if they were not officially teachers, being one always comes with an odd sense of responsibility and pride.
"Especially the Walker Squad I trained," Arister added. "They can become fearsome elites."
"That's what I hoped for," Arima nodded. "I'll bring you back to your world right away," he announced and a big gate formed in the sky. "You can go in whenever you want."
"Can I say something before that?" Jin interrupted him and Arima tilted his head. Jin turned toward Evergreen and Rex nudged both Chulainn and Hieran. He seemed to be extremely interested in what was going to happen.
Jin sighed and placed his knee on the ground whilst facing Evergreen. The dryad stared at him in confusion and what he said after made her freeze completely, "Will you be my wife?"
Arima was so surprised that he almost choked. He never expected that development. All the girls present covered their mouth and only Raylein and Night were watching with a mildly curious expression. Rex was so excited by the event that he couldn't help but annoy the two beside him.
Evergreen couldn't form a sentence for a good moment and her face gradually became red like a tomato. She opened her mouth a few times and then gritted her teeth. She stomped toward Jin and dragged him before flying away under everyone's eyes.
"You can leave without me," she said as she vanished.
"Well, that was fun," Arister laughed and so did everyone else. "We'll go back now. I'm sure we'll meet again, Arima," he bowed slightly and went through the gate with Ferzia. Everyone else bid their goodbyes and also left.
When Chulainn was about to leave on his own, Arima called him.
"Can you do me a favor? Gather as many forces as you can for me. Start from Heaven and Hell and then try to find and scout some useful assets. Don't forget to contact Ifrit too," he requested and threw a small black disk at Chulainn who caught it with his aura.
"What is this?"
"A tool to help you travel across planes," Arima declared and Kerberos stared dumbfounded at the disk with his three pairs of eyes. He ultimately agreed and left.