When the flames of 'Estuans Sors' died down, a quarter of Melumnia's surface had become a flat ground covered in ashes. In that same area, the army brought by Harion and Dracula had been annihilated.
Arima growled threateningly. He had transformed into a dragon and it sounded like it came from an enraged beast. He wagged his two pairs of wings as he landed on the ground. The wind pressure blew away the thick layer of ashes.
Ambor casually smiled and landed too. "You managed to counter it. But what's the point if you use another one of your Arts for me to copy?"
Arima sneered in response. "We will see how it goes for you soon enough."
"What are you going to do anyway?" Ambor snorted. "You know you can't use magic against me. So, you'll obviously go for close combat. But contrary to you, I can use my spells. Do you think you can win in these circumstances?"
Arima silently cursed Ambor's eyes and his focus abruptly shifted toward other places. At his left, three presences appeared after a brief spatial distortion. Behind him, there were four of them. At his right, he noticed two. There was one above him and one below him. And finally, three others in front of him, Ambor included.
He unconsciously concentrated on his right. The sounds he was hearing and the results of his echo localization were quite startling. The two he had sensed at his right were giants. They were actually of the same size as the current him; around two hundred meters tall.
Their domineering presence and aura made him think they were true giants compared to the ones he had just fought.
Those two people would quake the earth with each of their steps. One of them was an old man with a long beard and a white robe. If anything, he looked like Zeus. And as a matter of fact, it was his father.
"Kronos," Arima mumbled inaudibly and continued to probe them without even moving his head or his eyes.
The second one was a huge warrior. You couldn't see his face because of a red hood. But his crystal sword and armor told everything. He had a large pair of black wings on his back.
"Thanatos…"
Arima then heard the neigh of a horse and his ears twitched. An eight-legged white horse came down from the sky carrying a man wearing a cloak followed by two wolves and two ravens.
"Odin."
At the same time, a terrifying purple snake emerged from underground and hissed in Arima's direction. His tongue produced a yellow venom that melted the ground.
"Apep."
Behind him, a handsome young man with a wicked smile nonchalantly walked over. In his golden attire, he seemed to be the embodiment of arrogance and confidence.
"Loki."
A stunning woman, maybe even more appealing than Layla, followed him. A single peek and you would be mesmerized forever. Fair skin, perfect curves, and features. Nothing that a man could ignore for it was what she reigned on.
"Ishtar."
The two others were both women. One of them was a fairly old woman, using a cane to march. Her eyelids were almost closed and it was hard to determine if she could see or not.
"Baba Yaga."
The other woman was, without surprise, another beauty. Not as much as Ishtar, but could rival with Layla. She was the Ninth Pillar and one of the people Arima had learned about from Jorga.
She was wearing a charming dark blue dress. Her eyes were glowing with a frosty hue of blue and her black hair was long and perfectly straight. She was worthy of her title, the Night Goddess.
"Nyx."
Afterward, Arima scanned over his left. One of them was the skinny man who had complained during the gathering of the Pillars. He was the Third Pillar. You could almost see the bones on his face and his eyes were very sharp and spiteful. He was called the 'Sorcerer'. His title was so because he was rumored to use an unknown, dark element that he had discovered.
"Trevy."
The second one was the one they called 'The Gardener'. A wise-looking middle-aged man with gray hair. Everything about him made you feel calm and relaxed as if you were in front of your caring grandfather. The Guardians didn't know anything about him but Jorga happened to find out not so long ago. He was a half-elf who set himself with the goal to grow the strongest sacred plant that ever existed.
"Lorus."
The third one was a woman, or a girl to be exact. She was a petite girl with snow-white hair and eyes. In contrast with Gilgamesh who was timid, she seemed to be extremely daring and stared at Arima with a sneer. She was the Sixth Pillar. A girl who, like Shiva, specialized in ice magic. The Goddess of Snow.
"Khione."
Arima sighed strongly and recognized instantly the three people in front of him.
There was a tall creature, half-human, with the head of a wolf. He wore white clothes with golden ornaments. He held a scepter in his right hand and stood proud.
"Anubis."
The other one was a really pale and skinny man. Even more than Trevy. He literally had his skin on his bones. His eyes were bloodshot and had bags under them. He was tremendously pale and his lips were slightly purple. He didn't look like anything but a sick person. Whatever he touched with his feet would rot and disintegrate.
"Afriose."
The last individual was the one who sent shivers down Arima's spine and made him chuckle at the same time. He tried to look at her and it was the first time since he had lost them that he wanted to recover his eyes.
She was not as striking as Ishtar or Nyx but her simple presence carried so much charisma. Her appearance was anything except erotic. Even if you tried, you wouldn't be able to think about anything sensual about her. She was simply beautiful, attractive, and someone you'd wish to protect just after meeting her.
She had light brown hair, and eyes that could make you melt. Her facial features were young and innocent. She wore modest clothing and a skirt. Arima would definitely brand her as a regular stereotypical high school girl.
"Ahura Mazda," Arima uttered her name and she gazed at him. All the Pillars and gods gathered, also stared at him with sharp looks. He sneakily assimilated Harion's and Dracula's life force at the same time.
"Angra Mainyu," Ahura's clear and bright voice resounded. "Did you kill my Pillars?"
"I did," Arima replied lightly with a broad smile. "Let me ask something too. Aren't you supposed to be on the good guys' side, Ahura?"
"Merely a different perspective," she retorted. "A place where I can kill you is enough for me to believe in it."
Arima chuckled. "I see. Fair enough."
"My turn, did you take their life force?"
"Of your two friends? Yeah, I did," he answered and Ahura clicked her tongue. "If you want to resurrect them, you still can. But they'll be as weak as a meek human."
"…You'll never change, Angra."
"What?" Arima frowned at her words and Ahura's eyes widened.
"You don't remember?" She exclaimed in surprise. "I understand now… You must have lost all your memories while reincarnating. Let me explain it to you, Angra. You've always been like this."
"Killing people as you wished, robbing their strength to torment humanity further. You would always steal everything from your victims, even their memories and experiences. Every time something escaped you, you would uncaringly kill someone who knew."
"Then, the day I beat you and banned your demons. You planted a seed and created the Life Hunters. You planned to create a race that would one day make an offspring perfect for you. And you succeeded," Ahura said. "So, to fulfill my duty, I was obliged to do the same. Now, here we are again. Me, against you…"
Arima's eyes narrowed. His head suddenly started hurting and he almost fell over. In his mind, he was standing in a dark place. He slowly turned around and saw a colossal monstrosity made of blood, looking down at him with its demonic eyes, and their double iris. It was the Destructive Spirit's legacy.
Arima roared in the real world and held his head with one hand. His irises split in two as he howled and glared at Ahura. The Pillars shuddered but she didn't even react.
'Stay put! I don't need you!' Arima shouted in his head and the pain instantly stopped. He grunted and waved Karma which he had used as a support. Ahura was looking at him indifferently. She knew what had happened but her Pillars were perplexed.
"Fine. I suppose there's no other path anyway," Arima stated and gripped Karma. "Ahura, I'll kill you this time. I understand why I must die; I do not condemn what 'I' did before. But I don't fucking care right now. My plan isn't to die and Angra Mainyu is nothing more than an outdated thought in my head."
"My name's Arima, dear sister. And, as you said, I��ll take your power and turn my sights on the Original bastards. You won't stop me. At this point, I swear to follow this through until the end."
Ahura showed a hint of surprise for the first time. "…Angra, you will not be able to kill me," she declared and the Pillars stepped forward. Afriose in particular. He started walking toward Arima whilst releasing a thick aura of death.
Arima glanced at his arms that were already turning skeletal although Afriose was still standing hundreds of meters away from him.
"{At this rate, the moment he touches you, no matter if you're a skeleton or not, you'll be cursed to death… and die.}"
Arima snickered. "Thanks for the insight, Night."
He waved his hand and cast a large-scale life magic; a field that was overflowing with sacred energy. The results were shown immediately, Afriose who was in that field was surrounded by a large zone of repulsive miasma.
"I bought a bit of time at least," Arima said with a straight face and faced his nemesis. "Ahura, let me teach you about something. Never, ever, let the opponent perform a speech while you're in enemy territory."
Ahura suddenly tensed and Afriose stopped moving. At the same time, at thousands of different locations on the planet, strange objects emerged from underground. Around Arima and the Pillars, the imposing crosses scattered the ashes and were exposed to everyone.
"Ambor!" Ahura called, a bit agitated.
"…I can't see anything," Ambor answered with a darkened expression after a few seconds. "This magic has already been cast. It's being triggered as we speak. Dispelling it by force would take too much time."
Arima smirked and spread his arms out. "Let's begin," he uttered and a stone stele emerged from the ground just behind him. Latin words were engraved on it under the depiction of two scythes digging a tomb.