Life Hunter

When the tide had passed and the currents calmed down, Arima coldly looked at the gargoyle who was slowly crumbling away. The dark light in the eyes of the Seed stared at Arima, "You just took my memories, huh? And destroyed my soul at the same time…"

"Is that true?" Arima asked with a frown. It was about the memories he just received. It's not like he had received the memories of Karaskan. He only got the memories of this Seed of Chaos. But in those memories, there was something that Arima couldn't ignore.

The gargoyle laughed for the first time. As if all of his emotional restrictions had been lifted after his defeat, he appeared to be enjoying the moment.

"Come on, you took it from me. You perfectly know it's true," He grinned, "A Life Hunter that can wield death… I heard something like that from my Lord once. If I'm not wrong, you should be able to steal affinities from your victims as well."

Arima grabbed the gargoyle's head, "I understand. If it's true, I don't care. The thing I'm trying to know here is where your god is. But it seems you don't know. So, bye."

He crushed the head and the rest of the gargoyle's body immediately disintegrated. The Seed died without any last words.

"[Vita Venari]," Arima chanted and the life force of the gargoyle burst and entered his body. That energy was incredibly dense and Arima staggered the moment he absorbed it. His whole body was aching and he almost raised his voice.

His aura started rising exponentially. His mana pool was pulled out forcefully and even his killing intent was released. His three auras were now going wild without Arima's control. The world of the soul manifestation was turned upside-down by the auras.

**************************************

Outside of that reality, back at the elven city. Night suddenly shuddered. His aura, killing intent, and mana pool surfaced too.

"Master?!" Lanya worriedly called and went to his side.

"This is…" Lilis gawked at Night with widened eyes, "He's breaking through."

"Breaking through?"

"That means Arima is breaking through the earthen realm right now and his soul beast is doing the same. Although Night is at the ninth level, his body will still evolve to match his partner's."

Lilis rushed to Night's side and began to manually draw a magic formation, "I'm not like these two, but I can keep it for around two hours…" She muttered and a complex magic circle encompassed both her and Night.

Lanya could only back away with an unwilling expression, "What are you going to do?"

"If he breaks through here, he'll most likely destroy this place. I'll bring him into another dimension for now."

"Then what about Karia? Arima is experiencing the same thing, right?" Lanya glanced at Karia who was shivering and had a pale expression. Right after Arima intruded into her soul, she lost consciousness and Lanya had laid her on the couch. She would occasionally groan and tremble but nothing too serious.

Lilis glanced at the elf and shook her head, "There's nothing to worry about. Arima's soul magic didn't dissipate yet. He should still have a minimum of control. That man can easily do it without hurting her. The soul manifestation he established is almost like a different dimension. Otherwise, that girl would have died when Arima fought the Seed," She said then activated the circle and disappeared along with Night.

*************************************

Arima was silently sitting cross-legged. He was focused on maintaining the integrity of Karia's soul whilst checking what was going on with his body.

Strangely, his height decreased to be around 1.9 meters. He actually shrunk a little bit but at the same time, his overall physical ability underwent a massive change. At this level, maybe he could beat a ninth level with his physical prowess only.

Also, without him knowing, his facial features were gradually becoming even more refined. His hair grew a bit and his pupils were unnaturally bright as if they were constantly being illuminated. Also, the faint pattern he had in his pupils became clearly visible. It was light blue in color and looked like a snow star.

His mana pool expanded by at least a tenth, and his aura became stronger by around five folds. Arima opened his eyes and the light blue star revolved once. He inhaled and his three auras were sucked back inside his body.

He stood up and sighed. Until now, his expression was a bit tense since the moment he heard Karaskan's name. But now, it had totally returned to normal.

He smiled like always and raised his palm. A circle made of different spheres of colors formed above his palm. When Arima saw the result, he smirked in satisfaction. He then dispelled those spheres and activated the enchant on his clothes to restore his appearance.

"Well, I thought that I'd need more time to break through into this realm…" He uttered while getting used to his body. He kicked empty air with nothing but physical strength, but it still made a loud sound and the water's surface was deformed, "But this is definitely welcome."

****************************************

In the dimension Lilis had created, Night reverted into a dragon and roared. This same roar demolished the place they were in.

Night's body slowly began to morph. Like Arima, he didn't become bigger but actually shrunk to around 15 meters. What mainly changed with Night's body were his wings that became more tough looking and his scales which gained a sort of second layer that made them look impregnable.

His horns grew longer and his red eyes inherited the same pattern as Arima. Lastly, although he was a dragon, he grew a gray mane going from the top of his head to the end of his tail. It was fascinating how it complemented his looks.

Lilis was captivated by the transformation. When Night finally retracted his three auras, Lilis gave him a thumbs up, "Good. You're cool, you know?"

Night glanced at her and groaned. After that, he waved his arm and a strong gust swept everything around. He looked at his hand and clenched it, "This is quite pleasing."

"Your body is at the earthen realm, but the rest of your power is only at the late tenth level thanks to the Seed's life force. But I'm sure you will catch up really fast. Now, let's go. I'm sure Arima will get out soon. Turn back into your wolf form," Lilis smiled and rushed him.

Night nodded and conjured a magic circle. His body shined and his form gradually regressed.

Lilis quietly watched but at some point, her eyes widened grandly. When Night had finished his transformation, she couldn't help but burst out laughing.

*****************************************

Arima was the first to come back to the elven castle. He reappeared from the gate he had made previously and closed it once he was out. Karia trembled and almost fell from the couch she was lying on. Arima swiftly caught her and checked her state, although she wasn't injured, she was exhausted because her soul was opened for so long.

After he rested her on the couch again, Arima looked around the room and spotted Lanya shyly sitting in the corner of the room while staring at him. He tilted his head, "What the heck are you doing?"

Lanya yelped, "N-nothing…"

Arima raised an eyebrow and then recalled something, "Ah…" He exclaimed and grabbed a chair. He sat down just in front of Lanya. Like that, they were face to face.

"Hum…" Lanya felt awkward and opened her mouth to say something but when she noticed Arima's usual and calm expression, she stopped. She also noted the changes in his appearance but she couldn't focus on that for now.

"I'm human too, you know? Anger is just one of the numerous emotions I can feel. I'll never change, I'm still me," Arima spoke and patted Lanya before standing up. He then walked away.

Lanya lowered her head. It only lasted a few seconds. It was only three sentences. But that was enough to soothe her. She looked up to Arima. He was composed no matter the situation.

People can either envy or admire those who can do what they can't.

Lanya had always believed she lacked control over her emotions since she decided to kill her father alone and it always dragged her down. When she witnessed Arima lose control, she felt as if she had lost hope about herself. She blamed herself for selfishly using her esteem toward Arima as an outlet for her angst.

Then, the same person changed her point of view in just a few sentences. Emotions cannot be rejected or ignored, just suppressed and respected.

Lanya stood up and sighed. She turned toward Arima who was already sitting at a table with a lollipop in his mouth and elegantly bowed, "Thank you. For everything."

Arima gently smiled and nodded. At that moment, space distorted and Lilis appeared with a flushed face and her mouth curved into a smile. She seemed to have laughed really hard.

Lanya was confused, "What's wrong? Where is Night?"

Lilis snickered and looked away while covering her mouth. Another distortion appeared next to her and a second figure came out. Dark fur, sharp fangs, red eyes, and resplendent patterns spread across the coat. Yes, it was unmistakably a wolf. But there was something a bit odd.

Arima chuckled and Lanya gazed with starry eyes. What appeared was actually a wolf cub in all its splendor; small and cute.

"Don't laugh," The cub spoke, and it definitely was Night's voice. But it was slightly higher than usual and a lot cuter.

Lilis grinned, "After his breakthrough, when he tried to turn back into a wolf, he ended up like that. He did it several times, but the result was the same each time. Eventually, he decided to come here and ask you for an explanation."

Arima smiled, "I have already an idea as to why it doesn't work like before."

Night's small ears straightened up, "Seriously?"

"Yeah," Arima replied positively and Night's countenance brightened, "But I don't think I will tell you. You're too cute in this form."

Night knew Arima was dead serious as he said that and completely froze. Lilis almost failed to hold back her laughter again and sat at the table with Arima.

While Night was motionless, Lanya profited from it and sneaked behind him. She grabbed him and held him against her chest with a cheerful expression. Night regained his senses and showed his fangs, but it looked adorable, "Hey, put me down!"

"Why not? Let her carry you. You also can go anywhere like this, not like your other form," Arima casually countered and Night fell silent. Lanya started petting him and his ears twitched but he didn't complain.

"Lilis," Arima suddenly called and she turned her head toward him.

"Hm? What is it?"

"Have you ever heard about Death Hunters?"

"…What?"