All of the reapers created by the First Black Art revolved around their own cross. They all lifted their scythe and swung it down strongly. It struck the ground and formed a small hole.
The reapers were crazily digging the ground with their scythe. The Pillars observed the scene with strange looks. They had already tried to destroy them and not only the reapers, but even the crosses were also invulnerable.
At the same time, they all shuddered when they felt a warm light illuminating the planet. They peeked at the sky and spotted a bright star slowly moving toward them. They could also see that it was attached to the rope Arima had thrown previously. That star was even bigger than Melumnia. That thing was a monster of nature. Even a Pillar or a Guardian wouldn't be able to easily prevent its fall.
"…Are you crazy?" Ambor muttered unconsciously while his pupils were shifting back and forth, analyzing everything happening around him. "That star alone can annihilate Melumnia. But with that magic he just activated, I can't say if we'll survive…" He said and glanced at Ahura. She nodded at him and he immediately gave his instructions.
"Everyone, continue fighting Angra Mainyu. Only Trevy and Anubis will get to stop this star" He ordered and the Pillars complied without much hesitation.
"[Resurrection]," Anubis and Trevy chanted at the same time before flying off. Trevy's body expanded and became a sort of giant anti-matter devil. Anubis howled and the very atoms around him transformed into grains of sand.
"[Resurrection]," the rest of the Pillars now knew that they couldn't hold back. And even if he looked weakened at the moment, most of them still used their Soul Manifestation.
"{…This might end really badly,}" Night commented and Arima snorted.
"Will it?"
"{Obviously. You used the Linearity Law again. You're weak as heck right now. And if you ever use a Law one more time, you'll die. I guess this is our grave,}" Night deadpanned.
"{Or, maybe, do you have a brilliant idea on how to get out of here alive? If Layla was here, there might be a chance. But you alone; it's almost impossible. Especially when you trapped yourself in the middle of your own magic along with your enemies.}"
Arima snickered. "Easy as pie."
"{Can you make a pie?}"
"…"
Arima gripped Karma with a straight face and suddenly froze when his hand quivered and refused to move. The many enemies were already rushing at him, ready to kill him.
"We can't avoid it after all… I'm counting on you, Karma," Arima mumbled and his katana shined.
Ambor's vision was then abruptly overwhelmed by two different magic formations. Both of them were part of the set of Arts he had discovered.
"[Third Red Art, Semita Vitisque Repertor] (Path Finder)," Arima chanted and his figure faded away. He rushed through the gaps between the Pillars' formation in the blink of an eye. At the same time, he intoned another magic.
"[Bibe Sanguinem Meum] (Drink my blood)."
"[Karma]."
"{We're going with that after all, huh?}"
The chain hanging down from Karma's handle coiled and swirled. Its shape changed and transformed into a metal snake that bit Arima's arm until its fangs pierced the bones.
Arima's expression contorted and he gritted his teeth. His hand reddened and released a cloud of vapor. He swung his sword once and in the next second, he had appeared right in front of the Pillars.
Ahura's eyes widened and she promptly jumped back the moment she sensed Arima approaching them. Loki, Afriose, and Ambor followed her as well. They all wore grave expressions as if they had just escaped death.
A second later, they saw two figures fall. Their heads rolled on the ground and everyone looked at them in shock. The head of a beautiful woman wearing an expression of pure disbelief and the large head of a snake with its tongue sticking out.
Apep and Ishtar had died just like that. Everyone was frozen in place. In fact, they had all taken a step back. When Arima swung his sword earlier, most of them immediately reacted and tried to move as fast as possible. In the end, only Ishtar and Apep had perished under that strike.
It was mainly because Arima was specifically targeting them. Ishtar caused him quite a lot of problems earlier, and Apep could erase his presence at will. These two were also the ones with the weakest defense. That's why he gave his all to take care of them first.
Kronos, Lorus, Khione, Baba Yaga, and Nyx had their hands on their neck with a look bordering absolute terror. Kronos scowled as he watched he blood drip off his fingers. When he put down his hand, the wound had already healed but there was still a clear line of drying blood. It was the exact same for the others.
Arima's sigil glowed at that moment and Ambor shivered.
"What are you doing?! Destroy their life force! Now!" He shouted and Thanatos was the one who acted first. He seemed to be totally unfazed by the near-death he had just experienced. He immediately cast a soul breaking formation on both Apep's and Ishtar's bodies.
Arima clicked his tongue and Ambor sighed. He looked back at Arima and squinted his eyes. They were hurting him badly but he still did his best to analyze Arima's actions.
"He used a technique sacrificing every defense in return for displacement ability. Just one hit, and we win."
Arima snickered and turned around. He raised Karma and displayed it for everyone. The metal snake was still there and the blade seemed to grow pulsing veins from the base.
"For ten minutes, it will suck my blood. I'm curious to know how many of you I can kill during that time," he smirked.
The Second Cryptic Art is a self-harming magic. It's not the same as Malum's Berserk Arts though. The principle is simple, Karma will cling to the wielder and suck his blood. In this theory, blood is not only what flows through your veins.
Theoretically, Arima doesn't require blood to live. But every living being possesses what we call 'blood'. When you say that something flows through your veins, it's also through your very soul. It's also connected to you at a fundamental level. You have no blood; you die.
That's what we call blood essence. It's different from life energy. If you lose your life energy, that means your life expectancy diminishes. But when you lose blood essence, it's your basic vital force that you lose. The more blood essence you lose, the weaker you get. That, until you die.
This meant that Arima was getting weaker over time.
"But," he chuckled. "I can get that back with your life force. So, I won't run out of strength as long as I kill you," he uttered and pointed Karma at his opponents.
"This is my strongest state. Usually, I shouldn't be able to attack while using the Third Red Art; because even the rebound of my own attacks would get through my physical resistance."
"But in this case, Karma is the one putting you down. I just have to wield her to cut you down. And each time I injure you, your blood essence will lessen," Arima jeered and the ones who had been cut shuddered.
Kronos produced lightning and stared at his hand. The others gasped when they felt the difference. It was minor, but definitely there.
"Well, of course, blood essence is recoverable. But you'll need more than a few days for that. That's why…" Karma glowed with a red hue. "Right now, I'm the strongest here," he mumbled and disappeared from the spot.
Everyone shivered again. This speed was unbelievable. Even if they could more or less react after they had seen it once, they still couldn't do anything as Arima appeared next to Lorus. The elf promptly made a tree grow right next to him.
The tree's leaves shined strongly and the trunk obstructed Karam's path. But even so, the blade easily went through. But the time it took allowed Lorus to dodge.
This signed the start of the second round. Everyone grasped on the little time gained by Lorus and attacked Arima. Their only choice was to be on the offensive. Arima was in a state where even a weak blow would kill him. As things stood, it was the best way to deal with him.
"Odin! Release your Soul Summoning!" Ambor directed and Odin raised his halberd. It instantly changed into a red spear full of killing intent.
'Is that Gungnir? That might be a problem…'
Arima frowned whilst dodging every strike directed at him. Even Loki's daggers which were extremely deceitful and fast couldn't touch him. And he wasn't the only one who couldn't land a hit anymore. Even Afriose, Baba Yaga, and Nyx were helpless.
Especially Afriose; his curses should've already affected Arima but at the moment, he was actually ignoring them. Baba Yaga jumped away from the ongoing skirmish after Thanatos had shielded her from a strike that could have beheaded her.
"Thank you…" She sighed and stared at Arima's fleeting silhouette. "What is that? Can he escape everything and anything? Even intangible things?"
"It seems so," Nyx agreed and Afriose clicked his tongue.
"If I could touch him just once, I would instantly kill him with the Stavrós Astéri," he grumbled and gritted his teeth.
"It's not a good time to nag about it," Khione, the snow loli, retreated as well. Her body seemed to have been cut at a few places already.
"We can't go on like this. If we continue to fight, we'll get killed. Our blood essence is dangerously decreasing. The fact that we can't use our elemental magic at its fullest is a true predicament. But at the same time, he also can't continue for long. If his blood essence is truly being sucked at the moment, he won't last long if he doesn't kill one of us…!"
"You jinxed it, little girl," an eerie voice abruptly echoed.
Khione suddenly froze and her eyes narrowed.
"Khione!" Ambor shouted as he did his best to keep his bleeding eyes open.
"It's fine to chat but don't forget that there's someone who wants to kill you all right now."
The goddess of snow shivered as she felt an enormous killing intent coming from behind her. She could hear Karma's blade slicing through the air. She felt the impending death and made a decision in the split of a second.
Maybe it was on instinct or simply because she had no other choice. "[Snow Kingdom]!"
She realized what she had done a second later but she couldn't stop it anymore. The full power of her Soul Manifestation was released on Arima.
The temperature plummeted and it started snowing on at least a quarter of the planet. A castle made of ice and snow was built around Khione to protect her and attack for her. Arima grinned and crossed his arms as he was blown away. He flapped his wings and put his hand on the castle's walls. The entire structure, as well as the snow around it, turned into a light beam that flew inside his chest.
"Thank you," Arima uttered and waved his hand. "[Snow Kingdom]," he chanted.
When he pronounced these words, the ice and snow were turned against the Pillars and a completely new castle formed; one made out of purple ice. Arima immobilized Khione with her own Soul Manifestation and cut her head off in a single breath. He absorbed her life force right away and smirked.
At the same time, many other things were occurring: Odin was about to throw Gungnir, Anubis and Trevy were about to reach the falling star, Lorus was growing a massive tree, Ahura charged alone when Khione was killed, and Ambor seemed to be preparing a magic.
But the most inconspicuous thing was the First Black Art's reapers which had stopped digging their holes to go inside instead. The ground around the Crosses started being corroded by a strange miasma that would suck the life out of everything it touched.