"Are we ready to go now?" Raylein inquired once everyone was gone.
"One second," Arima said and crouched. He placed his hand on the ground and chanted, "[Bestia Felis]." A small black cat made of lightning magic immediately formed. It was identical to the one he had given Lifa.
"What is this for?"
"To help those two love birds when they need it," Arima smiled and patted the cat. He was more or less looking in its direction.
"…It's weird to see you unable to correctly define one's silhouette," Night commented and he chuckled.
"It's not that bad, you know? I can't see colors or images anymore, but at the same time, I can see way more. My other senses have been enhanced too."
"Just by curiosity, how far you can hear something right now?" Layla asked and Arima spread his arms as an answer.
"I can hear every single heartbeat on this planet," he stated and everyone fell silent. They wondered how he was dealing with all of that noise.
"Anyway, let's go now," Raylein said and drew a magic circle emanating with a blue aura.
"[What I seek is the road. What I offer is the path. Melumnia]," he intoned and a sort of tunnel appeared right in front of them.
"Follow me," Raylein waved his hand and went inside the tunnel. Arima told the small cat to go find Evergreen and Jin before going inside with the others. The tunnel closed itself the moment they were all in.
"We're going to Melumnia," Raylein suddenly said as they were walking through the transparent tunnel surrounded by darkness. "It's a place filled with powerful individuals from everywhere around this reality. Melumnia is also the name of the biggest planet which has ever been formed, as well as the giant city covering its whole surface."
"Sounds like a wonderful place," Karma commented and Raylein smiled.
"It is indeed. There's no discrimination, crime, or even poverty. The very notion of money is not even a thing there. As long as you can take care of yourself, you have no problem living there. Melumnia is also the place where all of the Guardians go when they have to assemble since it's under the rule of the First Guardian," Raylein explained and Arima hummed.
"Well, in any case, we have some time until we arrive," Raylein added. "Why don't we chat a little? I'm frankly curious about everyone's transcendence, not only Arima's. What about yours, Night?"
Night frowned and looked at him indifferently. "Mine is simple. I used fire as my base. I essentially have the same ability as that Yeion. I can turn into fire and physical attacks don't have any effect on me," he said and raised his hand. He beckoned Karma and she made a katana appear, which she swung at Night. His hand was immediately severed but it changed into a fire before returning to its original place.
"So, you chose second-degree immortality, huh?" Raylein muttered. "You can revive as much as you want even if your body is destroyed. But you can't if all the flames composing your body are extinguished or if your soul is taken. What about you two?" He then asked Karma and Layla.
"I can change every part of my body into the metal that composes my blade. I also can alter its composition to make it stronger in particular areas. I also can't be broken by magic nor can I be damaged by any weapon which doesn't have at least a stronger aura than Arima."
Raylein blinked several times. "…wow, I guess soul weapons are different from us when it gets to transcendence. You're the last one."
Layla stared at Raylein. "Try hitting me," she uttered and Raylein became flustered. "I'm not asking you to go all out. Just a light attack."
"Then… in that case," Raylein turned around and waved his hand. A blue trail followed his movement then formed a strange pattern. A red sphere was conjured and propelled toward Layla before exploding.
When it went away, Layla was completely unharmed and there was no indication that she had used magic to stop it. She then extended her hand and a transparent energy was shot from her palm before striking Raylein's abdomen.
He gasped and rubbed his stomach for a few seconds. "That was…" He mumbled in shock and Arima grinned. "…Reflection? Does your body reflect magic?"
"No, it converts damage done to me into pure energy that is returned to the opponent. I can't use that energy for my benefit though," Layla combed her hair which had been affected by the shockwave as she explained.
"That's already impressive. I don't even know if your transcendence is better than Arimane's or not considering that it isn't limited to elemental magic…" Raylein gave his honest opinion and turned toward Arima.
The latter kept walking as if nothing happened. It also was useless for him to look at them since he wouldn't be able to see them. He felt Raylein's stare and chuckled.
"As you already know, I chose to be able to absorb elemental energy and use it for my convenience. What I didn't tell you is how I could use that energy. If I want, I can send it back as it was sent to me, but I also can convert it into pure energy as well. You already know that but I didn't tell you about the best advantage of this constitution," Arima declared.
"Try using an elemental magic on me. Just a small one. Not even enough to harm a tenth level. I won't use magic. Just the ability of this body."
Raylein was perplexed and cast a small fireball which he threw at Arima. He didn't move as the fireball approached him. When it reached him, everyone expected an explosion but it entered his body like a drop of water falling into the ocean.
Raylein's eyes widened and before he could react, a purple flame of the same size as his own suddenly emerged from Arima's body and landed at his feet. The resulting explosion was definitely not made to only kill a tenth level practitioner. It could even injure some that were in the Fourth Sky of the Earthen Realm.
Raylein huffed and the flames were extinguished instantly. But he was deeply confused about what he had just experienced. "What was that? You said you wouldn't use magic, right?"
"I didn't," Arima replied. "The fireball you threw at me was sent back to you the same way you sent it to me."
"Don't mess with me. That thing was at least fifty times stronger than what I conjured."
"I know. But I never used my magic in the process," Arima smirked. "Your fireball merged with my body because of my transcendence. From there on, I can either send it back or use it as my own source of energy. For the latter case, I just receive the same amount of mana you used to cast it."
"But for the former, it's different. While it's in my body, the spell will be under a constant refinement by the Omni energy residing in my cells," he explained and Raylein's pupils narrowed.
"In short, any elemental magic I absorb will resonate with the Omni energy inside me before being returned with a much stronger momentum. But, technically, it's still the same magic."
Raylein stopped walking and took a step back. "…What are you? You're defying every logic at the moment. I never saw it under that angle but… let me ask you; how strong can the elemental magic you absorb be, at the maximum?"
Arima's smile became wider. "Unlimited."
"No fucking way…" Night unconsciously exclaimed and Raylein felt dizzy.
"I never saw it like that," Karma was thunderstruck.
"It's unreal…" Layla followed. "If that's true, you're virtually capable of defeating anyone as long as they use powerful elemental magic against you."
"That's just cheating. If you take this even further, that would mean you could even kill the Original God if he uses elements against you. That's fucked up. This is the first time I feel terrified by someone's power in a long time," Raylein muttered and Arima snickered.
"All of this is only possible thanks to the countless different energies I host. Eion, Omni, Silver, life forces from every opponent I killed, the parallel lines, and Malum's darkness."
"Yeah, I know," Raylein grunted. "That's why you're an anomaly. No one will ever be able to imitate you in any way. Your uniqueness is what makes you dreadful. Maybe you'll die soon at this rate."
Arima smirked and turned around to face Raylein with his unicolored eyes. "Let's bet then. When will I die? Who will kill me? It's a fascinating topic now that I attained first-degree immortality. I'm quite eager to try it out."
"…What?"
Arima laughed and his voice mixed with another one much deeper. Half of his face disappeared and turned into a burning skull.
"My fusion with Malum gave me something else. My life energy mutated. I won't die no matter what happens. Even if all the flesh on my bones is burned or reduced to cinders, I will then be a walking skeleton. If my bones are destroyed, the fragments will get back together and form me again. Whether I have mana or not."
"Unless someone destroys my soul, I will always live on. But let me tell you, I don't think there's anyone who has a stronger soul than mine," he said and the flesh on his skull recovered.
He smiled again and tried to direct his eyes directly toward Raylein. "What do you think?"
The former Plane Guardian gulped and his expression paled. He didn't know what to say anymore. He was even starting to think that Arima had already surpassed him.
"Anyhow; it's your turn. What about your ability?"
Raylein groaned retrieved the lead inside this tunnel. "…Mine is kinda normal compared to yours. I can use my body to travel through space and time. I can do it as easily as breathing."
Arima nodded. "I expected that. Even if it's plain, it sounds pretty powerful."
" Can you stop? You're just lowering my self-esteem right now…"
"Fine, I'll stop teasing you."
"Stop what?"
Arima feigned ignorance and took out Yeion's crystalized original force.
"If you say we have time until we get to Melumnia, I'll just try and assimilate the memories in this. There are too many things I don't know about. I'll use this to clear them up. Should be a piece of cake, I've done this more than seventy million times."