"Wait, how will you choose the destination?" Raylein raised his hand and asked. "I'm sure you know that it's incredibly dangerous to travel without a set destination. How do you plan to go somewhere as indefinite as another Reality?"
"I won't be the one setting the destination," Arima retorted and Raylein frowned. "Follow me," he beckoned everyone and teleported outside. He led everyone to a large meadow and looked up at the sky. "Come down, Deva."
As soon as he said her name, the magnificent beast came down from the sky and flapped its two pairs of wings to land. He patted her and looked back at Raylein and the others. "She was created by the Original God in the first place. She will be the one guiding us through the Realities."
Raylein gazed at the sky-dragon-like beast and pondered.
"But you just said that she had been created by the Original God," Ganesha remarked. "Are you sure that we can trust her?" He asked what everyone was thinking.
"We can," Arima immediately answered and turned toward Deva. He stared at her with Natus and the huge beast growled in response. "I've already made sure that there's no link between her and the Original God. And she won't betray me since she perfectly knows that I would kill her and take her aptitude for myself if she were to do that," he 'smiled' and Deva huffed before looking away.
Layla wryly smiled and the Guardians shivered as they recalled Arima's true strength. They saw him getting stronger during a fight with their own eyes. They would not dare to doubt his ability to steal the power of others.
"Let's do this then. As you already all know, there are only five Mother Realities, including the one we're in," Arima's body started expanding as he spoke. "The number of gates I'll summon amount to four."
His scales replaced his clothes and a robe materialized around his waist. His muscles bulged and his hair turned into a mane. His fangs grew and his feet grasped the ground. A dog tag hung from his neck and slowly transmuted into a Cross necklace. His irises split up and a pair of large wings were deployed on his back. Two horns grew on Arima's head coiled on themselves. The Guardians watched with widened eyes and dropped jaws.
"I will go with Flavio and Chulainn. Malum will go with Shakti. Aergia, Layla, and Evangeline will form the third group. And Night, Karma, Ganesha, and Raylein will go in the last portal," Arima continued to give his instructions as he finished his transformation.
He sat cross-legged and started floating in mid-air. He opened his eyes wide and four pentagrams were projected. Deva bowed her head and released her aura. Arima scanned it and channeled his mana through the green star that had taken home in his soul realm.
A white light came out of his body while red lines spread across his scales. He clasped his hands together and began to prepare his Art. Even though his appearance was so fierce and domineering, at that moment, he resembled a sort of omnipotent sage.
"And finally, Gilgamesh will stay here to send his army through the gates. All, except the one I'll be taking," he added and Gilgamesh could only nod silently. "Deva, send me your mana and aura while I complete the formation," he ordered and began his incantation.
Deva howled and her voice resonated strongly. Her feathers glowed as she transmitted her energy to Arima, as well as the information about the other Realities.
"[Aperi iter ad aethereum] (Open the path of the ethereal)."
"[Detrahet me in somnis etiam fines se nisi arcerent illum] (Bring me to horizons only restrained by my dreams)."
Arima looked at the sky and his eyes locked onto four spots before he extended his hand.
"I'll borrow them for a while," he mumbled and four planets in outer space shined and saw their terrain change. Nature turned into a silver liquid.
"[Materia obliviscentes] (Forget the material)."
"[Atque uti origins ducere me] (And use the origins to lead me)."
The four planets were quickly remodeled as giant silver gears. Arima breathed in and used the necessary amount of mana to build the dimensional bridges. The Guardians instantly paled and struggled to breathe. Except for Shakti who was protected by Malum, and Aergia who seemed to be fine.
In fact, Arima had to let go of nearly 20% of his mana pool. For him, it wasn't that much, but for the people around him, it was enough energy to kill them if they were to try to interact with it.
Layla sighed and teleported far away in space. Her eyes glowed and the entire planet they were on was bathed in a warm light. The inhabitants immediately fell asleep so that they would not be injured by Arima's aura and mana. She landed back on the surface and Arima smiled.
"Done," he declared and the four gears in space started spinning and producing intricate dust that could be seen from his location.
Arima stopped floating and stood on the ground again. He snapped his fingers and the four silver gears were instantly transported. The Guardians spotted the silver discs over the clouds and became even more amazed.
"I'll take this one," Arima pointed at the far-left gear and announced his choice. "You can go anywhere else, but that one is mine no matter what," he insisted and everyone looked at him puzzled. They had no idea why they were not allowed to take that one.
"Before we go, I wish to confirm one thing," Flavio spoke up while looking at the sky. "We have to go in there and locate the followers of God and the Devil. Then either kill them or rally them before taking control of everything else, right?"
"Yes," Arima affirmed while looking down at Flavio. The latter fell silent.
"…One last question; why am I in your team?" He inquired and Chulainn squinted because he was wondering the same thing. Without a doubt, they both were sure that Arima could take care of an entire Reality without the help of anyone.
"You'll understand once we're there," Arima replied and took a glimpse of everyone's faces. "Since everyone seems to be ready, it's time to depart."
Malum snickered and changed into a giant dragon made of flesh and blood. Contrary to Arima, he still had the appearance of a regular noble dragon. His scales were also gray instead of black and his mane was black.
"We'll go first," he said and Shakti jumped on his shoulder. He flapped his wings and left the atmosphere in no time with his speed. He entered the portal at the very right.
Night shrugged and changed into a dragon as well. His group climbed on his back afterward. He looked at Arima and they nodded at each other. Night kicked the ground and flew off toward the second portal from the left.
"Well, I guess we don't really have the liberty to pick anymore," Layla smiled and glanced at her team. "A team of girls, that sounds fun."
Aergia yawned and Evangeline faintly blushed. Layla giggled then stared at Arima. "Incidentally, aren't you hiding something from us? You won't try to make us believe you can't go alone, right?"
Arima laughed dryly and paused. "…Maybe."
Layla sighed and deployed her wings. "Fine, I know that you won't tell me even if I insist. Let's go, girls," she flew off and her teammates followed. "Arima," she halted in the sky and turned around.
"Keep in mind that if I see something with my Unblinking Eyes, I won't hesitate to use the First Cryptic Art," she stated and Arima bitterly smiled. Even with that fierce appearance of his, he couldn't hide the slight inquietude.
When Layla felt satisfied by his expression, she flew away with Aergia and Evangeline. When they went through the portal, Arima exhaled noisily and glanced at Gilgamesh.
"Gilga, send your army in exactly 24 hours. That will leave time for us to prepare. I also told Ifrit to come then."
"I understand," he confirmed and Arima nodded.
"Deva, you stay here too. In case the portals close, I want you to serve as a beacon to connect the different places," he then spoke to Deva who was lazily lying on the ground then shifted his sight toward Jorga who was still present.
"Go through the portals and find the Guardians and Pillars for the three other teams. I don't think I need your help so you can come to us in last."
"{Sure,}" Jorga replied shortly and the blue mist which always followed him condensed and went inside the portal Malum and Shakti had taken.
"It's our turn now. Chulainn, revert to your true form."
"Why?" The small pup tilted his head at Arima's request.
"Just do it."
"Alright…" Chulainn complied and released his true appearance. His body enlarged and his two other heads grew back as well as the snake on his tail. Flavio gawked. He realized he was the only small one in this team. He just had a normal human size while his teammates were gigantic monsters nearly reaching a hundred meters in height.
He sighed and jumped on Arima's shoulder when the latter signaled him to do so. Chulainn was the first one to leave the planet and ran in mid-air until he reached the portal. Arima flapped his wings and followed him closely.
When they traversed, everything turned quiet. Gilgamesh was left alone with the sleeping Deva and sat down helplessly as a giant golden gate emerged behind him, ready to open.
***
Malum crashed on the ground just after he came out of the silver gear. He grunted and stood up while pushing away the rubbles. Shakti had already leaped from his shoulder and was now standing on top of a large tree.
When Malum looked to the front, he scowled. He seemed to be confused about something. When he noticed Shakti, who had her eyes fixed at the sky, he bent his neck to do the same. His entire expression abruptly twitched.
"Oi, oi… what the fuck is this?" He muttered then slowly looked behind him.
His eyes narrowed. "…are you kidding me?"
***
"I have to say… this is impressive," Night commented as he looked around. Even Ganesha was observing his surroundings with an astounded expression. Karma admired as she placed her hand on a large green object in front of her.
"You're right… I'm speechless," Raylein followed and scratched his hair.
***
"…Seriously?" Layla uttered. She was spinning on herself, moving her head in every direction, and every time, her expression seemed to be filled with bewilderment. Even Aergia was fully awake because of the scene.
"Is this… a different Reality?" Evangeline whispered.
***
Arima, Chulainn, and Flavio were transported right above an ocean and fell in the water. Chulainn looked around with curious eyes.
"This doesn't seem to be really different from our Reality," he said and Flavio silently agreed.
Arima laughed just after. "Are you sure about that?" He grinned and his two companions shot him a confused look. "Try to get out of this water and you'll understand."
Chulainn frowned. "'Get out'?" He repeated Arima's words and was about to jump away when he froze on the spot. Flavio also stopped moving altogether. They appeared to be extremely alarmed.
"Well, you get it now," Arima chuckled and cracked his neck. "Let's swim," he added non-comically.