Life Hunter

Layla soared through the air while dodging a beam of lightning and fire. She flapped her crystal wings and pointed her rapier at the giant goat staring at her. A triple-layered circle sprung into existence and formed a conically-shaped white star that rocketed through the air.

The goat squinted and suddenly grew five more tails. They grew longer and longer until it was enough to form a shield. The white star collided with them and produced a vortex of light. The demonic goat opened its mouth in the middle of it and charged a hybrid spell containing every element. The same phenomenon also occurred between his rams.

"[Raytael]," the giant beast's voice echoed and two multi-colored waves pierced through the light and were launched at Layla.

She exhaled and extended her arm as crystalline scales appeared on it. Then, these scales glowed beautifully and the transparent figure of a dragon claw materialized above her. It reached for the wave of magic before grabbing and crushing it.

The premature stop of the magic caused it to implode and release a shockwave that blew the vines on the ground away and created a circular tide on the ocean in the sky.

"This is enough for today, Sebasfiel. Thank you," Layla smiled as her scales vanished.

Sebas nodded and transformed back into his usual form. The butler sighed and dusted his suit before bowing lightly. "My pleasure, Lady Layla. I see your new magic has been perfected."

"Indeed," Layla replied and landed on the ground. She waved her hand and numerous silhouettes appeared around her. One of them was Chronepsis while the others were very famous characters such as legendary gods or warriors. Amongst them even figured Arima in his final form.

"It wasn't easy, but I finally can attune with the River of Time and channel the power of historic personas. Well, it's still hard to control one of Arima's level, or any of you actually, but it's going well."

"Congratulations," a new voice joined the conversation and Baphomet landed near them. Layla and Sebas looked surprised as they saw two pairs of black wings on his back. "You made an incredible magic."

"Baphomet, your wings… did you breakthrough?"

The Occult Devil grinned. "Indeed."

Layla chuckled. "Then I should be the one congratulating you. You reached Peak Transcendence in just two months. That's impressive."

"The Lady's right. But again, you're my son after all," Sebas laughed.

Baphomet shook his head and recalled something. "By the way, where did Arima go? I sensed him leave the soul realm an hour ago."

"True, I'm also curious," Sebas complemented. "He locked himself inside his study during the last two months for his research. Lady Layla, do you know what it is about?"

"I do. Since he left the realm, I'd say he has finally come up with an answer to his problem. I'll go see him, do you two want to follow?"

"I'll humbly decline. Lady Ahura requested my presence after my spar with you," Sebas said.

"I'll pass as well," Baphomet said and pointed to his left with his thumb. The two others followed it with their eyes and spotted two dragons, an ashen one and an ebony one, throwing fire breaths at each other. "I'll ask Night and Malum if they can help me stabilize my life force."

Layla nodded. "All right, I'll go alone. I'll tell you what happened when I come back," she declared and snapped her fingers. A gate emerged behind her and opened its doors. "See you," she added and entered the vortex behind the doors.

***

"And… this is the last one," Arima mumbled as he finished drawing a magic circle on one of the Kind Demon's Crosses. He was actually using all of his mental capacities to make it; both of his eyes were in their dual-pupil state and even Natus was invoked.

"{Looks like it. So, how will you go about this?}" Krynox spoke up in his mind.

"Well, it should be fairly simple," Arima replied as he took off his glasses and his eyes returned to normal. "If everything goes right, a little mana impulse will give the results we want." He sighed and placed his hand on the circle. "…fingers crossed," he whispered and the circle released countless beams of light that pierced the skies and connected to other planets.

Arima stepped back and looked up. At the same time, a gate appeared behind him from which Layla came out. He didn't even turn around as he greeted her, "Hey, Layla, you came at the perfect time."

She tilted her head and glanced at the magic circle. "What is that?" She asked as she stood next to him. "I can't even understand half of it."

"Don't worry, me neither," Arima replied and she looked at him as if he had grown a second head.

"Then… how did you make it?"

"It's more accurate to say that I extrapolated it," he said and rubbed his chin. "Okay, there's still some time before it's finished so I guess I can explain. As you know, I've been researching the magic circuits these past two months. I wanted to discover their source or even their destination. Where does the mana come from, where does it go?"

"As a start off, I had my own set of magic circuits that I could analyze. I received them when I merged with Krynox. Since they exist within my soul, I thought it'd be easy to find the source and destination but I was wrong. Impossible, even. So, I changed my perspective and tried to find a pattern. Essentially, my goal was to identify a recurring pattern that dictates how the magic circuits spread and connect to living beings."

Arima raised his hand and a projection appeared above his palm. It was a sort of intertwining of hundreds of blue strings. "This is what I found. I scanned the entirety of my soul and isolated the recurring patterns of my circuits. There were quite a few different ones so I repeated the process and ended with this one in particular."

"It took me a while, but I managed to make out the algorithm that matched the magic circuits' structure. Now, what I'm trying to do, is using that algorithm on the magic circuits of the real world through the magic circle you're seeing there. I drew ten of those on ten different planets so that it would scan an optimal area and right now I'm waiting for the results."

Layla hummed and observed the many beams of light around her. "I understand the gist of it. But what are these circles supposed to accomplish exactly?"

"In a nutshell, they will build a maquette of this world's magic circuits that I will be able to trace and follow to their origin," Arima answered and the magic circle abruptly stopped glowing and the beams vanished with it. "And it looks like it's done."

Then, out of nowhere, countless white strings emerged from the circles and virtually drowned the world with it. This was happening to the other nine circles as well.

Layla's eyes widened. She grabbed one of the 'strings' with her fingers and stared at it before letting go. She was surrounded by wriggling strings of light. She felt like she was inside a very complex puzzle.

Meanwhile, Arima smiled and pinched one of the strings. "It's a success," he declared and raised his palm as if he was holding something with it. "[Pars Impios]," he intoned and the Lawless Tome immediately appeared in his hand. "There you go, little guy. You know what you have to do, right?"

"Certainly," the Tome replied with a very human-like voice. The book opened and the pages started flipping and only stopped after half a minute. "I'm ready, Master."

Arima nodded and pulled on one of the strings until it touched the Tome's page. The rest happened very fast. The string got absorbed by the book and the rest followed incredibly fast as if the Tome was swallowing all of it.

Layla watched in awe as the 'fake circuits' flew past by her and got whirled inside the book. It took the Tome at least ten minutes before there was nothing to absorb any more. The pages of the book were filled with incomprehensible patterns and mathematical equations representing how these patterns had to be unfolded.

"There you are," Arima smirked. He was looking at two white strings that the Tome hadn't been able to swallow. These two strings had been stretched to their limit, meaning that something was keeping them firmly in place somewhere. "Impios, track these two strings."

"Right away," the Tome replied and closed itself. The strings got stuck between the pages as a red hue traversed them. "Both of these links lead to an unknown location. Their starting point does not exist within the Reality, they go through it."

"Through, huh? Do you think you can open a path?"

"…Negative," the Tome replied. "But it is possible to send Master through the links. It should be feasible to 'ride' the strings to their source. Although, it will require me to maintain the connection as long as Master is on the other side. Otherwise, returning may prove to be impossible. It is advised to let someone take over my theory if Master decides to go there."

Arima mused and turned toward Layla. "Can you do it for me? It shouldn't be long. At least, I hope so."

Layla sighed. "Again, you're being reckless."

He laughed and shrugged. "All for the sake of knowledge," he looked back at the Tome. "Do it. Send me through any of the links after transferring the theory to Layla. Also, just in case, if I haven't come back after an hour, pull me back."

"Understood," the Tome said and Layla suddenly felt the connection between her and the book being established.

"All right, I got it. Arima, you better be careful," she said sternly and Arima chuckled. The Tome glowed and opened again before wrapping Arima with blue light. The latter then got absorbed by the book and sent through the string in the split of a second.

***

The next thing he knew, Arima was standing in the middle of a dimly lit black space. Everything around him was void except one thing. In front of him, barely a few meters away, was a desk. There was a small lamp on it, which was probably the only reason why this place wasn't sunk in complete darkness.

Arima squinted and observed the person sitting behind the desk. To say he was confused would be an understatement. Though, he was trying to come up with some theories. The person sitting on the chair was a plain middle-aged man wearing a black suit. He was writing something on one of the many papers lying on his desk.

"May I know what I owe this visit to?"

He spoke without even looking up. Arima scowled and walked toward the desk. He created a chair with just a thought and sat down. The unknown man then finally met his gaze.

"I'm afraid that question isn't the correct one," Arima said. "Why don't you tell me who you are first? Then perhaps I'll be able to give you an answer."

"I see…" The man rested his chin on his hands. "So, you got here without knowing what it was exactly. I can understand; my sister and I were never meant to be discovered in the first place. And you wish to know my name… It's an honor coming from the God of Eternal Night himself."

"{Hm, he knows you. And from the sounds of it, I'd say it's not some second-handed information,}" Krynox commented.

"Indeed," the man said and Arima's eyes widened.

"You can hear Krynox?"

"Of course, he was formerly the embodiment of an Existence. He has his own set of magic circuits, therefore a 'death pole', so I obviously can interact with him."

"{…that's unsettling.}"

Arima crossed his arms and laid back on his chair. "Are you insinuating that you're really the source of all magic circuits then?"

"The source? No, I'm the terminus. You'll need to visit my sister if you want to see the source."

"You still haven't answered my question though. Who are you?"

"Let's see…" The man hummed before smiling. "You can call me Death, I guess. Because that is what I am in the end."

Arima frowned and rubbed his temples. "I see. So, that theory was actually right, huh?"

"Oh? You had made the connection already?"

"Magic circuits stick to humans like a parasite – no offense – but when they die, they go away as if nothing happened. They sound like leeches that stick to the living and get away from the dead. But from another perspective, it's not too farfetched to say that they come forth from life and disappear due to death. In a sense, death has always been the destination of the circuits."

Death smiled and clapped. "As expected of the Kind Demon."

"You're saying that again, but how much do you know about me?"

"Everything of course," Death replied and pulled out a file from one of his drawers. He handed it to Arima who looked through the contents with a raised eyebrow.

"I see. It feels weird to see my entire life written on paper but I suppose I can live with that," he shrugged and put the file back on the desk. "I will assume a file like this is created every time someone comes to this place. In other words, every time someone dies."

"Indeed, you died thrice sir. Even for the reincarnation of Angra Mainyu, it's an unbelievable 'feat'. Your file got updated two times but I never saw you step foot into this place. You were a mystery for me and my sister alike."

"Interesting," Arima grinned. "Always feels good to know beings such as Death and Life can't get a grasp on me. Thank you for feeding my ego."

Death chuckled. "I have no qualms. I'd do it again anytime. However, I wish to know the motive of your presence here. You were looking for the source of magic circuits, what did you want to do with it?"

"Cut it," Arima said and Death erased his smile. "My initial goal was to get rid of the source so that magic would disappear from the world."

"…may I ask why?"

"Power has always been the cause of conflict and slaughter. Add magic to the lot, and the victim count is increased by a least a power of ten. Rather, give me a good reason why I shouldn't do it."

"Countless civilizations live relying on magic for their daily life. Erasing it would mean destroying the lives of many. You're still willing to go through such an idea?"

Arima smirked and Death frowned. "I have my own magic circuits. Didn't you say so yourself? I can probably retain my magic in that scenario and I also probably don't need you or your sister since the theories of life and death are like second nature to my soul. In that case, I can use my crosses to spread them."

Death's eyes widened. "Bold. Did you intend to do the same thing then back on your planet? You want to have a monopoly on the magic circuits of others. If that really happens, calling you God might become too weak of a statement. So, what you are going to do? Cut my sister's head off?"

"Hm, I considered it," Arima replied. "Well, let's say I have another plan now."

"Another plan, is it?"

"Yes. Tell me, but you welcome the deceased in this place, right?"

"Precisely," Death nodded. "Incidentally, a guest is on his way," he added and a bell rung out of nowhere. Arima looked over his shoulder and was met with the sight of a strange beast. It was a creature with black skin, a hole in its chest, and a white mask. It didn't seem to be intelligent as it roared at both him and Death.

"This creature is what they call an Echo back in the reality where it comes from. They have no hearts, and supposedly no soul," Death explained.

"What do you usually do with your guests?" Arima asked and the Echo tried to charge at him but failed because of an invisible wall.

"Let's see… it depends. If the guest has redeeming feats during his life, I send him to my sister for reincarnation. Otherwise, I just destroy it. This one, in particular, is the latter case."

"I see," Arima mused and pointed two fingers and the Echo as it roared at him. Black electricity gathered at the tip of his fingers to form a very small sphere.

"[Nulla]," he intoned and a crushing wave of black lightning swallowed the Echo along with a strident sound. When it was over, the creature had disappeared, leaving nothing behind.

"Aeter, was it? The Eternal Night God's magic. Impressive," Death praised. "But… that was weaker than I expected. Are the sayings about the Kind Demon overstated?"

Arima shrugged and pulled out a necklace hidden under his collar. The necklace depicted the Kind Demon's Cross but its appearance was tamer. The chains surrounding the cross were orderly coiled, the skull's jaw was closed, and there were no signs of flames or lightning whatsoever around it.

"Oh, I see," Death nodded. "A seal. I understand. It's not always easy to hold so much power. By pure curiosity, how much is repressed?"

"99%."

"Oh my. I hope you can forgive me. There's no way your power is overstated, rather, it is quite modest. If you're strong enough to match me at 1%, it says a lot. Well, I'm not a fighter anyway. Let's get back on track, shall we? You said you had changed plans. What does that mean?"

"Do you know about Kymestuos?" Arima asked in return.

"Kymestuos? If I didn't know about it, I'd have to quit my job. It's your private prison that has been snatching souls from me and incarcerating them for their crimes."

Arima nodded. "But, as you know, Kymestuos is barely able to affect around 10% of the deceased across all Realities. My Crosses aren't perfect when it comes to retrieving souls. That's where you come in. I want you to work for me."

Death blinked. He was shocked and that was a first in a very long time. "Pardon me?"

"I want you to ferry your guests to Kymestuos when they are deserving of it. I will halt the soul-retrieving of my Crosses and every deceased will thus first come to you to be judged."

"You… want to have control over the dead in every Reality?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

Death mused. "Do I have something to gain from this?"

Arima snorted. "What? Do you want a salary? It's not like you have something to lose either way."

"True," Death agreed and searched for a certain file in his drawers. When he found it, he placed it on the desk and slid it toward Arima. "All right. I, End of Alkysha – Death, accept the God of Eternal Night's offer."

Arima deadpanned as he read the file in front of him. "Seriously? A signed contract? It's not even soul bound."

"Formalities."

Arima rolled his eyes and a blue flame blazed around his hand before giving form to his own part of the contract which he gave to Death. The latter grabbed it and swiftly read it before signing it, while Arima signed his own.

"You seriously are a businessman," Arima commented as they returned the contracts to the other after making a copy of it.

Death seemed to react to those words. "Businessman? What do you mean?"

"That's what you strike me as. Never looked at yourself in the mirror?"

"Well, I have no real appearance to speak of," Death retorted. "When people look at me, what they see is their vision of what death is. I see… so you think death is a businessman. Fascinating."

"{Not inaccurate apparently,}" Krynox quipped and Arima inwardly agreed.

"Can I ask you about these levels specified in the contract by the way?" Death asked just after.

"That's Kymestuos' Scale. It's how the prisoners are divided based on their power. I was planning to change how people see Life Force levels with this in fact."

"There are three sections in Kymestuos. They are titled Blood, Ruler, and Overlord. In the Blood Section, we have, in the correct order of strength: Mortal, Warrior, Lord, Conqueror, and Commander Rank."

"In the Ruler Section: Kingdom, Empire, Continent, Star, and Galaxy Rank. As for the Overlord Section: World, Dimension, Reality, Existence, and Original Rank."

"Each rank is quite self-explanatory. For example, a Warrior Rank human has enough power to defeat a warrior. It's as simple as that. A Commander Rank has the power to defeat a commander and all of his army. Same for the rest."

"For your information, I'm classified as an Original Rank. That also means that Kymestuos can detain even me if it ever came to it. So, you don't have to worry about anyone ever breaking out. I merely want you to classify the ones you send to Kymestuos accordingly to this scale. You can do it, right?"

Death hummed while taking notes. "Of course, I have no problem with this. It's not like this will overwork me. I receive guests every five minutes; it gives me a lot of free time all things considered."

"Every five minutes, eh? How does this work? Are the souls put in a sort of queue before coming to you or are you in a place constantly locked in time?"

Death chuckled. "A bit of both."

Arima smiled and stood up. "Well, this was a fruitful meeting. I guess I didn't waste those two months of research. I'll notify Chulainn and Fafnir about you."

"Ah, yes. The Hound and the Warden of Kymestuos. I heard they receive power from the prison itself, is it true?"

"It is. For every prisoner, they both get a boost in strength. As you can imagine, they will be incredibly powerful after this deal. They'll probably easily sit around the Reality Rank," Arima stated. "Anyhow, I'll leave for now. If I ever feel like it, I'll pay a visit to your sister."

"Ah, yes. I'm curious to know how she will look to you. I wonder how you see life as a whole…"

Arima shrugged and closed his eyes. He grabbed his necklace and the eyes of the skull glowed as the chains wriggled around it. The branches of the cross started fuming and the seal was lifted.

Even Death grimaced at the sudden increase in power and that only lasted for a second before Arima disappeared out his realm.

"I understand why you put a seal on yourself now. Even with limitless talent and training, there's no way someone can't hold back this kind of power unless they want to literally erase matter itself by mistake."

Death mused and flipped the pages of the contract he had signed until a new guest made himself known through the sound of a bell. The man in question walked toward the desk then took a seat on the chair Arima had left behind.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I feel like you were lucky," Death remarked while pulling out a new file. "Who knows what would have happened if he were still here."

"I was lucky indeed," the man responded. "But not for the reason you think of. He wouldn't have shown any kind of anger. Rather, I think he might have been capable of being compassionate. I don't think I could deal with that."

Death hummed. "According to this contract, I should be sending you to the Overlord Section of Kymestuos. But I'm willing to do a one-time exception for both your sake and the Kind Demon's. So, what do you say, Karaskan?"

"Hahaha, just end it. Arimane has already killed me. He twisted my entire psyche with his magic and even erected an eternal tomb. What's the point of going to Kymestuos? He'll come to erase me the moment he knows."

"All right then," Death snapped his fingers and the former Mad God cackled as his soul turned to dust. He departed without saying anything else. Death gazed at the empty chair and silently continued reading his documents until the next guest came.

***

When Arima exited the realm, he used the string of the Tome as a beacon and reappeared right next to Layla.

"So? How did it go?" She asked as she dispelled the magic. The strings vanished and the book spun before turning into particles.

"Well, it wasn't what I intended for, but I struck a good deal."

"A deal?" Layla put her hands behind her back and tilted her head. "You mean there was someone on the other end of the string?"

"If you can call it a someone," Arima shrugged and snapped his fingers. A portal to his soul was ripped open in front of him. "Let's go back, I'll tell you when I have a cup of tea and a cake in front of me."

Layla giggled and stepped through the portal first. Arima lagged a bit though. He sighed and rubbed his neck. "As if I hadn't noticed…" He snorted and followed after his wife.

***

Meanwhile, Death had sent another deceased to Kymestuos when his eyes coincidentally wandered upward. His face froze when his eyes crossed the red ones of a ghost-like creature.

If the Reaper existed, Death was sure he was looking at it. "…Mind if I ask who you are? It's slightly disturbing to have something such as you here. I'm supposed to be the only incarnation of death in this place, you know?"

The ghost lowered the scythe it carried on its shoulder and its crimson eyes pierced through the darkness of the hood.

"My humble self is his Lord's Evil Spirit of Death, Indra Vayu," a grow-like voice echoed. "My Lord has a message for you. He appreciates the unneeded consideration, but next time you are confronted with one of my Lord's sworn enemies, he wishes for you to consult him beforehand."

"I, Indra Vayu, has been granted the power of Death. Hence, a link to this place has been created the moment my Lord stepped foot in it. Beware, all things happening within this place do so under my watch and by extension, under my Lord's supervision," Indra Vayu warned before leaving in a whirlpool of darkness.

Death blankly stared at the inexistent sky and blinked several times.

"Well… that'll teach me."