"Before I start, I have to tell you all that I will fight the Creators. If you want to participate, it's up to you. You can still leave."
"Can I leave then?"
"No," Arima immediately rejected Aergia's request and she could only groan. Everyone else bitterly smiled. "Let me rephrase, everyone except the Divine Beasts, Night, Karma, Malum and his new girlfriend, Layla, and Deva can choose."
Malum's expression twitched and Shakti blushed but none of them refuted his words. Rather, they felt like refuting them would be improper somehow. On the other hand, Night sighed. "You're not leaving us that much of a choice you know?" He muttered and Karma giggled.
"Wait," Flavio's eyes glittered. "You didn't mention my name?"
"I didn't."
"Thank god!" He exclaimed in pure happiness. "Then I'm out," He shamelessly said. "I don't give a damn about whether or not you become the God of Everything, I just will retire."
"So, you'll seriously go to the countryside and live as a doctor, huh?" Even Arima couldn't help but chuckle.
"Of course," he laughed and waved his hand just after. "Then I will go now. I hope I will get good news from you all soon," he uttered and teleported away.
"I will go as well. I wish you good luck," Ganesha followed and Raylein shrugged.
"Until next time," when Raylein left, Arima asked the next person.
"What about you, Ahura? What do you think? Will you help me or stay neutral?"
Ahura fell silent facing Arima's question. After a good minute, she opened her mouth.
"I will assist you. I don't like how those 'things' rule this world," she said and Arima smirked. Ahura turned toward her last subordinates. "I won't force you. The Pillars are officially disbanded. You can do whatever you want."
Anubis and Trevy looked at each other and bowed. "Thank you, Lady Ahura. We choose to leave. We will always be at your service, but I don't think that we can help you with our strength," Anubis declared. Ahura nodded in understanding before they disappeared in front of everyone.
Arima smiled and turned around. "You're the last ones. Gilgamesh, you won't need to participate. In fact, I want you to stay here to guard those gates like before. As for you two, Evangeline, Chulainn, it depends on you."
The succubus looked around at the people gathered and shook her head with a wry smile. She looked at Arima in the eyes. "Do you think that I can survive if I come with you?"
"I'm afraid not. I may not even be able to resurrect you since the ones we're facing are the current 'administrators' of the Original World Laws."
"Then, I don't have much to say. I think I'll just stay with Gilgamesh to make myself useful at least," Evangeline gave her answer and Arima nodded.
Chulainn stared at Arima for a moment then clicked his tongue. "As if I could help. I'll return to our new Hell. With the power you gave me, I think I can make a breakthrough by using the Purgatory. I suppose that's okay, right?"
"I have no problem with that. I'll see you there if I kick the bucket."
Chulainn snickered. "Sure. You better not die though. I don't want to be killed by the Creators later on. See ya, Arima," the Hellhound turned around and opened a Hell Gate to leave.
Arima breathed in. "Now that it's done, it's time to move. Everything will be decided quickly," he announced and everyone tensed.
"Wait," Ahura raised her voice. "Do we really have to hit now? Can't we take our time to thoroughly prepare ourselves?"
"I'm sorry, but that's not a viable option."
"Why?"
"Because there's a high chance that the Creators will destroy everything now that all of the Pillars and Guardians are gone. There's nothing for them to influence the mortal world now. They will most likely erase Existence and start anew as they told me," Arima replied and Ahura began to ponder.
"True… But even for them, to do that, they would need a lot of time. It won't be soon, will it?"
"You're wrong about that, young girl," Malum retorted and Ahura shuddered. She slowly turned toward the one who spoke with a frigid look. Since the moment she had met him, Malum had always made her feel extremely uncomfortable. It was to the point that she preferred interacting with Arima rather than him.
That was because Malum's usual attitude was a lot sharper than Arima, who is cold and soft at times. He doesn't hesitate to look down upon Ahura and speak to her as if she was a little kid.
"The important point is not that it'll take a long time for them to act, the crucial one is that we have two enemies," Malum continued leisurely.
"There's the Original God and the Original Devil. We can't say for sure that they will cooperate, but there's a possibility that one of them will stall us while the other gets rid of the Universe. Additionally, preparations are fine but the more time we take, in other words, the more time we give them, the higher the chances they will get prepared for us instead."
Arima snorted and continued from then on. "We have to strike fast as long as we have the initiative. If we manage to at least kill one of them, I will be able to subdue the other easily."
"But isn't it already too late for that?" Jorga remarked. "They are the Creators after all. They control every magic and Law imaginable. There's no way that they can't control time and space. I assume that they can even spy this place."
"Don't worry about that," Arima raised his palm. The projection of an old-looking clock appeared above it. "You may have missed it, but I already cast Ragnarök's hidden effect around us. Time is not a problem as long as we're here. I also deployed a formation to block any peeking," he smirked and Jorga sighed.
"Who's our target then?" Shakti raised her hand as if she was asking a question to her teacher.
Arima glanced at her and smiled. "The one we'll focus on is the Original God."
"Why?"
"Because I feel like he is the more wicked of them," Arima looked around and when he was sure that no one else had anything to say, he clapped his hands.
"Good. Now let's decide on a temporary disposition. I will act on my own and the only ones who will fight with me are Layla, Night, and Karma. The four Divine Beasts will be commanded by Jorga, Malum, and Shakti. As for Ahura, I want you to stay on standby until I tell you otherwise. You'll use my blood and attack at full power at my signal."
"And now that things are said, Krynox, how do we get to their location?" Arima asked and his entire group groaned. He was pumping them up and but he still didn't know where the Creators were.
"{The Creators live in a special realm called the 'Eternal Haven' which the most powerful beings have a chance to see.}" Arima made it so everyone could hear Krynox's voice.
"{It's a place that exists everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Theoretically, you can get access to it from literally anywhere in Existence. The method to go inside is actually pretty easy.}"
"Easy?"
"{Yes. It's more than easy for you Arima. Since you became a True God already. You already have the right to visit that place. If there was a ranking of all living beings, you would certainly be in the top three along with the Creators. There's simply no way you can't go there.}"
"Okay, okay, I understand. Now, how do I do it? That's what I want to know."
"{Just wish for it.}"
"…Huh?"
"{As I said, just wish for it and the portal will appear before you.}"
"…I feel betrayed by own expectations," Arima muttered and his eyes flashed. "[I wish to enter the 'Eternal Haven']," he said whilst channeling his mana as if he was chanting a magic.
At that moment, the sound of a bell echoed strongly throughout the planet. Arima's eyes widened and he took a step backward, a white circle appeared in front of him and slowly expanded. A formation was gradually being built inside that circle.
As the portal was opening, Malum approached Arima and stopped right beside him.
"{What's wrong? Do you have something to say?}"
"{Kinda, I just want to tell you something,}" Malum shrugged. "{During this fight, no matter what happens, I will prioritize Shakti's safety first.}"
Arima glanced at Shakti who was quietly talking with Aergia and Layla. "{I understand,}" he nodded then asked with a smug face, "{So? What happened to you, whose name is Evil, to fall in love with a gentle goddess?}"
Malum frowned. "{To be honest, it feels more like I've found my first friend rather than a crush. What? Do you want to mock me?}"
"{As if I would ever do that. Having someone to love and protect is a blessing. Without that, life is pretty boring and filled with bullshit.}"
Malum hummed. "{And you? What about Layla?}"
"{You know how I am... I can't accept her feelings just like that.}"
"{So what? Are you going to keep her waiting indefinitely? Because at this rate, there's no doubt that she will follow you until her death.}"
Arima grumbled. "{It feels weird to receive love advice from you. It freaks me out.}"
"{Hey,}" Malum interjected and paused. "{One last thing, why did you isolate your soul?}" Arima visibly trembled at his question.
"{Don't tell me it's because you became a God, because that'd be a lie. At best, I can understand that it would disrupt your connection with me. But for Night and Karma, it's another story. That can't happen with your soul beast and soul weapon. You deliberately cut links with them. Why?}"
"{…One thing that I learned when I was not even 20 years old is that strength comes with a price. Fear, hate, jealousy, envy, and fake trust from others. Arrogance, pride, responsibilities, pressure, power, and authority from myself...}"
"{What's your point? Are you trying to say that those two would misuse their strength?}"
Arima laughed and attracted the attention of everyone.
"No, Malum. Tell me, for you, what is a God?"
"What?" Malum wasn't the only one confused.
"Being a God means to carry the lives of the weaker. To rule them, guide them, support them, punish them, and most importantly…"
"{Share their pain,}" Krynox finished his sentence for him. "{Being a True God like you means that you will get worshipped. In other words, believers will throw every single bit of their anguish, pain, sadness, happiness too, joy, wishes, and so on. Some of them will be bad and others not. All of that brought together is the burden a True God must carry.}"
Layla's eyes widened. Arima smiled. "The reason I cut links with you three is that the burden would have also been pushed onto you. And I don't want to drag you down with me. Well, to be honest, I also thought that you may not be able to withstand it."
"Definitely," Night immediately agreed and Karma smiled. "I don't care about not receiving any more life force from you. I don't want more anyway. I'm already too strong. Going beyond this is useless. I'll let you carry that weight."
"Same," Malum followed. "There's no fucking way I want to bear the feelings of some whiny humans. I don't know how you can keep your sanity with that in your head."
Arima shrugged. "Who knows. In any case, it's time," he stated and his group concentrated on the sort of spinning mirror floating a few meters high from the ground.
"{The portal to the 'Eternal Haven' is open. Go ahead, Kind Demon. Show them what a True God is.}"
"Shut up, Krynox."
"{…I can't be dramatic either now?}"