Life Hunter

Malum leaped through the portal and fell into a chaotic place. The scenery was dark and filled with people killing each other. Most of the space was taken by the same types of monster which he met earlier. They were not all like turtles though. Some were giant serpents, or bulls, golems, two-headed birds, and other strange animals and chimeras.

And, indeed, as Malum saw before crossing, two irregular beasts were fighting with their bare hands in the middle of everyone. One of them simply resembled a giant ape while the other looked like a sort of dinosaur covered by a rocky carapace. The fact that he was standing on his two hind legs, and waggling large tail, truly reminded one of Godzilla.

Those two were not the only powerful individuals there. Not only were there many titanic beings in that battlefield, but there was also an incalculable number of smaller, humanoid fighters.

Inside of that messy site, Malum's and Shakti's appearance didn't amount to much. This entire battle seemed to spread for thousands of miles. Every flying island which wasn't a living being had been destroyed while the actual monsters dwelling there had either fled or joined the combat.

Malum snorted and back punched one small creature who tried to swallow him. He didn't even look at it directly and grabbed the animal's tongue before burning it from the inside.

"Did you find them?"

"Yes," Shakti nodded. "As expected, those two goliaths wrestling in plain sight are two of them. As for which is which… I'd say the ape is a Pillar while the other is a Guardian."

Compared to Malum, Shakti's ability for magic control and sense was far superior. She was probably better than Arima when it came to mana manipulation. A genius that perfectly filled up Malum's weakness.

"It seems that more have died since Sir Jorga was here though. There are only ten of them left. Six Guardians and four Pillars… All of them, except those two big ones, are quite far from here. Seven thousand miles to the north, two Guardians are fencing off one Pillar. There's a 1v1, five thousand miles to the south, and finally, one Pillar fighting against the two last Guardians, more than ten thousand miles to the west…"

Malum sneered. "It seems that the winner is clear. The Pillars won't last much longer," he breathed in and contracted his muscles. He opened his hand and his scales glowed. A weapon materialized and he immediately grabbed it. It was the soul weapon that Malum had forged for himself. A black and silver scythe.

He wielded it like a whirlwind and smirked. He shouldered it and released his aura. The weakest monsters near him were shredded to pieces.

"[Berserker Scriptor Semita] (Berserker's Path)," he chanted and flapped his wings. He conjured an explosion behind that propelled him toward his destination. Shakti sighed helplessly as she held onto his shoulder. Her eyes shined and a snow-white color covered Malum.

He reached the giant ape in the blink of a second. He laughed loudly and struck the beast's head with his palm. The Godzilla's eyes widened and before he knew it, the gorilla he was fighting just a second ago had been flung to his face while bleeding from the nose, eyes, and mouth.

As he fell, he heard an incantation followed by a terrifying roar. "[Ars Berserker, Voca Messorem Scriptor] (Berserker Art, Reaper's Call)," Malum's scythe became even bigger than his own body and glowed with a threatening red light.

He swung it downward and impaled both giants at the same time. The ape howled in pain and grabbed the blade as it pierced through his body.

Malum's grinned and transferred a stupid amount of mana into his weapon. His muscles were torn apart and his scythe made a metallic sound before it broke and exploded. The flames of the discharge were compressed and locked inside a sort of spherical barrier. Malum retrieved his weapon and put it back inside his soul to restore it.

"Thanks for the help," he said.

Shakti sighed again and lowered her arm which was pointing at the barrier containing the explosion.

"Honestly, I wish you'd hold back a little. I won't be able to keep up at this rate," although Shakti was not involved in the fight, she was still one of the biggest actors.

The reason why Arima put her and Malum together in a single team was that they were the best combination possible. She was the best support Malum could ever ask for. Each time he used the 'Berserker's Path', Shakti could regulate his mana flow and reduce the damages done to his body by relinquishing the excess. She could also heal or stop him if necessary.

All of that meant one thing, Malum could use the 'Berserker's Path' safely, but only if he were to use it the same way he was used to. With Shakti's help, he could now reach another limit and there was no way he would not try to hit it.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you can do it," Malum declared and squinted his eyes. The barrier made by Shakti was dispelled once the explosion had ended. The giant ape immediately exited the cloud of smoke and crashed on a distant island; dead.

But in contrast, the Godzilla growled like an enraged beast and wagged his tail to disperse the smoke.

"Why would you do this? Who are you?" He raised his voice and you could see that the wound made by the scythe had already healed.

"Oh, so you survived. Were you tough enough?" Malum mused. "Nah, you must have used that monkey's corpse to protect yourself from the blow. Not bad," he laughed and spread his arms wide. He grasped the air and two new scythes appeared. "Normally, I would have killed you both without even using the 'Berserker's Path' or my weapons, but this reality weakens me after all."

Malum grabbed the chain hanging from the handle of one of his scythes and made it spin with it.

"Well, instead of two seconds, you'll die in five. Was it worth your effort to survive?" He mocked and threw his spinning scythe.

The large beast easily repelled it with his tail but lost sight of his enemy in the next instant. Before he could react, a curved blade was touching his neck. He felt killing intent for a second then blacked out as his arteries and spine were cut.

***

Night parried one giant sword with Karma and made a crack on it in the process. The man holding the weapon stepped back hurriedly.

"What is that weapon?!" He shouted and stamped the ground to lift the earth and attack. Night snorted and the stone coming out of the ground to strike him was instantly destroyed.

"You can't possibly win against the First Red Art, big guy." Night inhaled and released a fire breath that shrouded the titan in front of him. His eyes flashed afterward and he turned around to block the giant woman's kick with his arm. The shockwave demolished the surroundings and Night's scales surprisingly cracked.

"[Terminus Confractus, CC] (Limit Break, 200)," he chanted and pushed back the woman with brute force. She didn't resist the force and instead spun in mid-air and created a foothold with spirit magic to come back and counter. She threw a punch coated with lightning magic.

"This woman…" Night grunted and faced the tremendous fist approaching him. 'Shit, a thousand-fold consumption is too much after all,' he lamented and clicked his tongue. He took an Iai stance and gathered black lightning around his blade.

"[Fifth Cryptic Art, Aeterna] (Eternal Night)," he swung Karma and a wave of darkness clashed with the fist and exploded.

The two shades of lightning mixed and thunder roared. Even the others fighting far away were affected by the repercussions. The woman who faced Night got injured and flew away.

"{Above!}" Karma shouted and Night looked up in haste. The alien-like creature made a peculiar gesture and a beam of cyan light came down from outer space and struck him. He groaned and was pinned to the ground. The vibration spread throughout the entire planet and hurt him.

"Damn you!" He shouted and slashed the light pillar. He deployed his wings and flew off. He halted right in front of the alien's face and swung Karma. But the blade was not able to slice the surface of his body and slid on the skin.

Night scowled and tried to punch him instead. When his claw made contact with its target, the force of his attack was strangely absorbed before being evacuated through the punches of the creature.

"You can't be harmed by physical blows, huh?" Night evaded his counters and commented.

"{Night, there's nothing I can't cut,}" Karma sounded offended and Night snickered.

"[Sigillum tertium, Gaudete] (Third Seal, Break)," he intoned and Karma's aura was multiplied. The blade's edge started shining with a purple and red hue.

Night slashed again and this time, the blade went through the skin and properly conveyed the force it carried. The alien creature let out a strange sound out of pain before being crushed on the ground by a second strike.

At the same time, Ganesha trumpeted and pushed one of the Pillars to the ground before battering him with his feet. This was the third one he had taken out since the beginning. His Soul Manifestation revealed itself to be extremely useful. Raylein was constantly teleporting incoming attacks to protect him, as well as counteracting with many projectiles.

Raylein as the best when it came to teleportation. His mana consumption was incredibly low as well. He was the most cost-efficient member of their team. That's why Ganesha decided to offer him his mana to help him hold on for a longer time.

"There's still six left, huh?" Raylein muttered. He and Ganesha were confronted with two Pillars at the moment. One of them was a massive bear while the other was a young-looking man.

Raylein glanced at Night and confirmed that he had injured three of them. But they were still able to retaliate and he also had to fight the old man from who seemed to be the First Pillar of this Reality.

"To be honest, if it wasn't for him taking on the strongest ones… we would have been in a really bad position," Ganesha remarked and was about to collide with the bear when he suddenly felt the ground below crumble and lose all consistency. "What?!"

The entire planet started shaking. The plants were being torn, the mountains were collapsing, and the seas were being siphoned.

Raylein's eyes widened. Even gravity suffered a staggering alteration. He gazed at Night again and noticed that he wasn't battling anymore. The black dragon had released his aura in its entirety.

"I don't care if I use all of my mana. I will end this now," he stated and the planet's shape was being twisted and modified. Everyone on the surface except Night was expelled into outer space.

Ganesha and Raylein watched the planet from afar and gaped. "Holy..." They couldn't hide their astonishment.

"[First Red Art, Tenentem Caelum, Atlas] (The One Who Holds the Sky, Atlas)," Night's voice echoed even in the vacuum of space.

"You like big things? Well, I have a present for you."