Life Hunter

Arima didn't wait further, he readied Karma and charged at the gargoyle. The latter crossed his arms and their color changed from black to dark blue. The same color then spread over his whole body in less than half a second.

Now, the gargoyle appeared to be made of blue steel. He waved his claw and clashed with Karma to deviate it. Result; a crack formed on his now steel-like hand and Karma's momentum created a new maelstrom in the ocean below.

The Seed grunted and the crack on his claw closed. He used his wings to block Arima's following strikes and retaliated afterward.

The two of them fought in close combat while flying around, barely using any magic. Their figures just kept appearing and disappearing. Everywhere they went, the water would either evaporate until the seafloor was visible or go away to return as a tsunami later on.

"[Karma, Verto] (Change)," Arima chanted and Karma transformed into a greatsword. He swung it vertically and conjured lightning around it.

The gargoyle changed his hand into a blue shield and tried to parry the strike. But his arm was instantly sliced and he was sent flying away. Even before reaching it, the water had already dispersed and the gargoyle crashed onto the bottom of the sea before he was submerged.

When he looked up after the currents calmed down, his uncanny silver eyes wavered. Arima was aiming at him with Superbia fully charged with lightning and plasma.

"[Gun Metuunt Blasphemantes] (Rail Gun)," He chanted and pressed the trigger.

The huge black pillar boiled the water and instantly shrouded the gargoyle before piercing the earth below. The pillar only remained visible for a few seconds, but the bullet was actually still going down underground, dragging the gargoyle with it.

Arima snapped his fingers and the semi-transcendental adamantite bullet exploded with the plasma and produced a massive cavity underground. The water began to enter the huge hole created by the bullet and the siphoning never seemed to end.

Arima stored the still fuming Superbia and gripped Karma with his right hand while grabbing Ira with his left. He sneered and turned his head slightly to the right. A few seconds later, the gargoyle emerged from the water. His body was full of cracks and he had lost one wing but it was already healing at a speed perceptible by the human eye.

Arima snorted, "As expected, you're not a living being. Killing you physically will be hard. This is troublesome."

The gargoyle looked at him as a new wing grew on his back, "You're saying that, but aren't you ashamed of the grin you maintained since the beginning?"

Arima laughed, "Ashamed? Why? I always enjoyed fighting. Now, it's for revenge. How can I not enjoy the situation?"

The gargoyle fell silent and his eyes shined and started spinning in a circle. His body began growing in size. He continued becoming bigger until he was twenty meters tall. The color of his body changed to sparkling silver and his eyes turned black instead.

Arima's eyes sharpened and he moved instantly. He vanished from his original position and reappeared next to the gargoyle. He hacked with Karma while using lightning magic. His blade was moving faster than the sound.

But, different from what Arima predicted, the massive gargoyle evaded and placed himself behind him in the blink of an eye. Before he could react, Arima had already been kicked away.

His eyes widened and he coughed blood. He jumped on thin-air and hurriedly looked back at the gargoyle.

"(Too fast. What's going on?)" Arima thought and pointed Ira at the gargoyle. He fired a simple electrified bullet.

The black ray of light went through the gargoyle and faded in the distance. The gargoyle had actually shifted his position so fast that he left an after image.

Arima's mouth twitched when he realized what was happening, "Hey, that's cheating, you freaking bastard," He said while putting Ira away.

The gargoyle stared at Arima with a face that couldn't express any emotion, "I told you, didn't I? I can't take you head on." The Seed stated and disappeared again.

Arima's eyes narrowed and he suddenly placed his katana above his head. The blade actually stopped a silver claw trying to attack him. But before Arima could even see the body of that claw's owner, it blurred and vanished.

Arima gave up on trying to parry. He jumped away from where he was whilst using every way possible to increase his speed. But he was still hit on the back and a huge cut opened from his shoulder to his waist.

He clicked his tongue and brushed off the pain. He could only rely on his instincts as he started blocking attacks that were coming from random and totally unexpected directions.

For the first time in a while, Arima was surprisingly on the defensive and it lasted for more than a few minutes. Each blow aimed at him had only a tenth of a second of decalage, while also being sometimes from completely opposite directions.

Although he was already healing thanks to his enchanted clothes, it was the first time Arima got that many injuries since he arrived in this world.

"That's enough!" He finally snapped, his aura exploded and the sky darkened. Two massive magic circles appeared above and below him. These formations seemed to be even bigger than the average town. The two circles connected themselves together with a sort of blue ray.

Then, the blue light illuminating the space between the two circles was disturbed at some place and the figure of the gargoyle appeared there. Arima glared at the gargoyle and his eyes glowed with a purple light. Thunder roared and the sky brightened. Multiple purple lightning bolts fell from the sky and impaled the gargoyle.

The Seed roared and lost an arm on top of being pierced in the chest. After that, he immediately vanished as he was doing before. Arima frowned and groaned, "Just because you're used to this soul manifestation, you can move freely in here. That is past cheating. That's just unfair."

The gargoyle revealed himself far away. His arm was restoring itself and the hole on his chest was closing.

"It's not that unfair against someone like you," He retorted and was preparing to continue his assault when he suddenly trembled and felt a part of his body crumble. He looked down at his chest and saw a dark red sword piercing through the almost entirely healed hole. He turned his head and looked over his shoulder. Arima was there with a smirk in his face, stabbing him with Karma.

"[Accelerans](Accelerando)," Arima exhaled a cloud of vapor and chanted. The gargoyle gawked at him in astonishment. His mind abruptly stopped working as he glanced at the empty space where Arima was a second ago.

"How did you move so fast?"

Arima snickered, "I didn't master it yet, but time magic is pretty useful."

The gargoyle was dumbfounded. Even for Heavenly Gods, time is no small matter. How could a human in the Mortal realm use time magic? The Seed recovered from his shock and concentrated on the situation again. His figure blurred and the area around him was warped.

"Do you really think I'd let you that?" Arima's voice resounded.

"[Catena Meam] (Soul Chain)," He chanted and five purple chains sprouted from the tip of Karma's blade and bound the four limbs and neck of the gargoyle. At that moment, the Seed lost all control over his own soul and body. He couldn't teleport anymore, nor could he even move a finger.

"A Life Hunter's soul is indeed too strong…" The gargoyle remarked as he saw his soul being compromised by those chains.

Arima grinned. A dark purple circle was drawn below the gargoyle and shined along with Karma's blade. The clouds in the sky produced a vortex of lightning and thunder roared at the same time.

"[Vigilate in caelo est, cadere in te] (Watch the sky, it will fall on you)."

"[Tenere onto a morte cor tuum pupugerunt] (Hold onto your heart pierced by death)."

The gargoyle attempted to escape by utilizing everything he had but he was crushed by the pressure Karma brought on his chest and couldn't free himself from the chains.

"[Tenet Noctis Sensisse] (Feel the darkest night)," Karma was starting to generate black lightning and along with the purple lightning congregating around the vortex in the sky, the air itself was vibrating and being electrified.

"[Ultima Aeterna Noctem] (Final Eternal Night)," Arima finished chanting and swung Karma which was still embedded in the gargoyle and cut in half the latter's upper body.

With this slash as a trigger, the lightning that had been gathered around Karma exploded into a black sphere encircled by a red glow. At the same time, thunder rumbled and a terrifying purple lightning bolt came out of the vortex in the sky and hit the sphere.

Three colors merged together in a single attack. The black sphere fused with the dark red aura. Purple lightning covered it and penetrated it from all sides.

Of course, it didn't take long before the whole thing detonated into an enormous bouquet of energy. The earth shook. The shockwave warded off the water for more than a thousand miles. Even the thunder clouds that had been used to fashion this magic were completely dispersed by the explosion.

Even if you were to look at that scene from very far away, you would still feel your entire body quiver. The bouquet of lightning launched some stray bolts that landed and burst in the now barren ocean. There wasn't even a single trace of water. It just looked like a charred battlefield full of craters.

Arima eluded any damage by phasing his body with his own magic. Basically, he altered his body in a way that it wouldn't be injured by an attack possessing his mana's signature. But even so, he was still blown away from the center of the explosion which was the gargoyle itself.

The explosion lasted for a good minute. It may be short, but the destructiveness surpassed what you could even imagine.

After the explosion, Arima waved Karma to disperse the mix of smoke and vapor. He could still hear some sparking noises from time to time.

Suddenly, a petrifying roar resounded and it was Arima's turn to be pierced in the heart by a silver claw. Right in front of him, a smaller version of the gargoyle had appeared. He was as small as a child and still had a few parts that were restoring themselves but his dark eyes stared at Arima with vigor.

"Once again, that magic was impressive. The theory and image were perfect. The fusion of summoned lightning and induced lightning proved to be devastating. If you had managed to take my life force, you surely would have entered into the Earthen realm…" He icily said and stirred his claw in Arima's chest which made him cough more blood.

"It's a shame. You should have realized though. Why did you try to destroy me? My body means nothing here," The Seed added and tried to pull his hand to snatch out Arima's heart but the latter grabbed his arm and prevented him from doing so.

"[Communis humane nature uirtutem] (Superhuman Strength)," Arima chanted. His muscles bulged and the strength of his grip on the gargoyle's arm increased.

"What are you trying to-" The gargoyle froze in the middle of his sentence. He was stunned because of Arima's chilly grin and also the fact that he was gradually losing the feeling of touching the beating heart.

He watched agape as Arima's skin and flesh turned into powder and scattered. Around the area he was pierced, only bones remained and even his heart had disappeared. Then, the rest of Arima's body started becoming ashen powder which was carried away by the wind.

The gargoyle gawked at the skull which had blue flames occupying the eye sockets, "How? How can you do that? That's not just an imitation or just a discard of flesh. You actually turned into an undead."

Arima deformed his jawbones and grinned, "How would I know? This should be your last worry, you know? You're about to die after all," He declared and his 'eyes' burned stronger. An azure silhouette slowly appeared behind him. That silhouette was a giant blazing skull which glared at the gargoyle with its bright red eyes.

"[Quid tu, qui alta in abscondere tenebrae tuae?] (What do you hide in that deep darkness of yours?)" Arima intoned with a sinister voice that echoed strongly in the gargoyle's head and soul.

"[Nec refert] (It doesn't matter)."

"[Oro te interficiam] (Let me destroy it for you),"

"[Hic quondam morbo fatum] (This tainted fate)."

"[Si cicatricem habens meam] (Soul scar)."

When Arima finished his incantation, the skull behind him converted into a blue light that entered the eyes of the gargoyle. The monster then started to roar in agony although he shouldn't be able to feel any emotion or pain.

Arima smirked, "You may be physically invulnerable, but don't believe you can fool me by saying it has no effect on you. Look at you now. Too weak to resist a direct attack on your soul."

While the gargoyle was still howling, the water that had been vacated earlier returned as a thousand meters high tsunami that shrouded the figures of both Arima and the Seed.