Life Hunter

Arima was casually flying in outer space, looking around with his glasses on. Natus was being reflected on the lens and some sort of digitalized data was flickering on them.

"{What are you looking for?}"

"Honestly speaking, I have no idea," he answered to Krynox and halted his flight. He inspected his surroundings once again, even the planets that were light years away from him. "I guess this is why Gabriel called me. I'm sensing a really weird presence all around this area."

"{A presence? I don't feel anything personally.}"

"It's not because you're in my head that we share every single one of our senses," Arima retorted and teleported to appear above a massive planet, evidently flourishing with healthy greenery. It had two suns orbiting around it; not the opposite.

"{So, this is where they relocated, huh?}"

"You never saw this place when you were still the Will of Existence?"

"{No, it is my first time seeing it since you destroyed Heaven back then. I didn't concentrate on it. Although I'm aware that they managed to recreate a Gate which Kerberos is still connected to incidentally.}"

"I see," Arima said and let the gravity of the planet pull him until he was plunging toward the ground. He squinted his eyes and right before he touched the ground, a sound like a muffled snarl echoed and the air rippled as he slowed down.

He landed on the ground as if he had just made a small jump and started walking with his hands in his pockets while the passersby, of the city he landed in, looked at him in shock.

Most of the people there were angels and various types of divinities who had retained their power after the destruction of the Original Lands. Now, even races like gods and angels had to reproduce like any humanoid species. That's why you could see many children on the streets in contrast to when they were still in Heaven and where divinities like them were usually created by faith and the Land itself.

Arima glanced at one of the angel children who was staring at him while holding the hand of his mother. The boy had no wings on his back. Arima smiled and nodded at the mother who answered in kind with a confused expression since she didn't know who he was.

"{I guess it's you who made it possible for half-angels to live peacefully. If this was still the regular Heaven, that mother would have been punished the child banished,}" Krynox commented and Arima nodded.

He then teleported again, leaving the bewildered divine beings behind, and reappeared in the middle of a circular room with a very high roof which was made of white tinted glass. He looked down at the granite floor then locked his eyes on a woman sitting in the center of the hall. She stood up and turned toward him.

"Arimane Reigen Blade, God of Eternal Night, I'm honored that you-"

"Okay, pipe down. I don't care. Just tell me the exact reason why you called for my help, Gabriel."

The archangel opened her mouth then closed it again. Her face became flushed and she bowed speedily. "Sorry!"

Arima sighed. "Spit it out already."

"Yes!" She straightened her back. "As you already know, Heaven was relocated here after the war with Karez and Karaskan. We settled here quite easily and after several years, we became a completely homogenous society."

Arima scowled. "What are you getting at?"

Gabriel lowered her head. "Since a few months ago, there have been continuously increasing cases of violence. When I say this, I don't mean small incidents or fights, but truly incomprehensible acts of brutality. Barely the other day, two siblings suddenly killed each other for no reason. Everyone who knew them affirmed that they loved each other deeply. And this is just one case among many."

"Have you investigated it?" Arima asked. "You contacted me through my Cross. Did you consult Chulainn, Azes, or maybe Ifrit before that?"

Gabriel shook her head. "We couldn't find Ifrit. We did ask Kerberos and Azes, but even with the help of Zeus, Poseidon, and Chronos, they still couldn't discover anything. They immediately advised me to contact you. I was the one who did it since I'm the representative of this planet."

Arima snorted. "You're making this sound awfully official."

"Um, is it bad?"

"Whatever," he waved his hand. "I did feel something strange while coming here. A weird and ominous presence. I still can feel it right now."

Gabriel's wings perked up as she heard that. "Really?"

"Yeah…" Arima closed his eyes and she stayed silent to not bother him. "Hey, the other seraphim, Michael, where is he? Is he out?"

Gabriel was visibly confused. She tilted her head. "Yes… but how did you know?"

"Where is he?" Arima asked back.

"Well, one of our citizens said that they had discovered a seam of orichalcum and I sent him to check it out."

"When was it?"

Gabriel put her hand on her chin. "Two days ago… Now that I think about it, I should have heard of him by now. But why do you ask?"

Arima hummed and took off his glasses as his irises split in two and projected his sigil.

"He's dead," he uttered.

"…huh?" Gabriel opened her eyes wide and her mouth quivered. She couldn't say anything before Arima disappeared from the room, leaving her dumbfounded and terrified.

***

The place he reappeared at was the entrance of a cave. Even with Natus at its full power, he couldn't see through it but he knew that Michael's death force was accumulating in there and that another dark presence was looming over it.

"{This is odd.}"

"Indeed," Arima responded and stepped inside the case. The moment he did that, his surroundings warped instantly and he was no longer near the exit. He had transferred to the deepest part of the cave and as all seven of his Evil Spirits materialized around him, he looked at the ground where a decapitated body and its respective head lied. With the six wings on the corpse's back, there was no mistake.

"This is Michael," Arima muttered as he glanced at the shocked expression that was left on the head. "He died before he could even react. For a seraph at the peak of the World Rank, this is quite notable," he said and Natus spun as Michael's body was restored. "Indra Vayu," he called.

"Yes, My Lord," one of his spirits, the cloaked reaper, whirled its scythe and pierced the archangel's body. In the next instant, a heartbeat was heard and Michael twitched.

"As expected from the Kind Demon," a voice resounded in the cave afterward and Arima leisurely looked at his left as if he was expecting it. The Seven Spirits screeched and also turned toward the source. "I made sure to crush every trace of his soul. How did you resurrect him?"

"I made a deal with Death," Arima deadpanned and Arsu and Azizos, his twin guns, appeared in his hands with their mounted blades retracted and seamlessly concealed under the barrels.

"{Who's that?}" They both asked at the same time.

The man who had spoken earlier was an undead looking guy with gray skin, black hair and eyes. He was smiling at Arima as if he wasn't standing in front of the strongest being known to Existence.

"Erebus Magnus, isn't it?" Arima surprisingly answered.

"Oh? You know about me?"

"Rather, Night told me that while he was in the other Mother Reality, he met a God of Darkness who gave him the head of the nine Pillars of Elysium while he himself was the First Pillar," Arima replied and squinted.

"But I already knew who you were thanks to Krynox anyway. What I wasn't aware of and what Night failed to tell me was that you were strong enough to rival a Reality Ranker."

"Ah, yes. I heard about that. Kymestuos' Scale, was it?" Erebus chuckled and shrugged. "Your soul beast wasn't wrong, Kind Demon; I was far weaker back then. But people change, don't they?"

Arima snorted and waved at the unconscious Michael with the tip of Azizos. "I might have been doubtful if I hadn't noticed that he has no life force anymore," he said and Erebus' smile widened.

"{I have no recordings of you getting an ability such as this,}" Krynox directly spoke to the man in question. "{Although… that is only before you left your home Reality. You're obviously not a Life Hunter, so what did you do to Michael? Did you just destroy his life force for fun?}"

Erebus chortled and moved. He started walking in circles around Arima while preserving eye contact. "Don't you already have an idea? Isn't it the reason why you're not killing me on the spot? Those guns you're holding; especially that golden one could probably obliterate me in a few bullets. What a scary man you are."

Arima scoffed and whirled Azizos faster than what Erebus could even follow. He also pressed the trigger with the same kind of speed and a blinding golden projectile that looked like a burning star engulfed the God of Darkness' figure before erasing whatever was behind.

From the surface of the planet, millions of people saw a literal sun emerge from underground and obliterate an entire mountain before exploding in outer space.

Arima raised an eyebrow and lowered his weapon as his seal, his pendant, fumed and reverted to its original state. Both Arsu and Azizos then shined and turned back into their human forms. The twins were unusually silent and serious as they stared at the crumbling tunnel full of rubbles in front of them.

A minute later, the rocks were moved and Erebus stood up in the middle of it. His appearance had not changed in the slightest as if nothing had happened. He dusted his clothes and grinned.

Arsu scowled. "What is he?" He asked with his indifferent tone.

"A Phantasm," Arima answered. "To be exact, he's probably a Torment Phantasm. Phantasms constitute a race of wonders. They are like ideas incarnate. They're immortal, powerful, and ever-evolving. The way they get stronger is by feeding on what defines them. This guy feeds on torment. He makes people go crazy, kill each other, hate each other, and burns their life force while doing so. But they are extremely rare. This is the first one I meet in person."

"They generally don't have bodies and have to get one for themselves. The real Erebus is probably long dead as we speak. He was most likely consumed and possessed when he tried to travel through Realities."

Erebus nodded. "Indeed, you're very well-informed. When that man attempted a transfer between Realities, he ended up right in front of my doorstep and it just required a little effort from my part to take his body. He was very unlucky considering where it was…" He paused and smirked.

"Tell me, have you ever heard of Desynchronized Realms?" He suddenly asked and Arima's eyes narrowed. "I actually wanted to meet you, Kind Demon. It is soon time. We have been preparing for a long time now. The desynchronization will end and we are now inviting."

When he said that, Arima's aura leaked and five people appeared inside the cave.

Malum, Night, Layla, Karma, and Ahura all looked at Erebus with sharp eyes. On top of that, on the surface of this Neo-Heaven, the Four Divine Beasts materialized. Even Aergia had taken the time to come. Along with them, Baphomet appeared as a long-haired half-human, half-goat man and crossed his arms as he stared down with his rectangular pupils.

After him, Fafnir and Chulainn landed on the ground in their largest forms. It was the first time that the former had returned from his small appearance. Then, a massive shadow covered a vast part of the planet and Asgorath's roar resounded. Everyone could see the head of the massive Dragon God sticking out of the clouds; glaring at the ground along with everyone else.

But he wasn't the last one. The number of people kept increasing. Shakti, Gilgamesh, Baba Yaga, Evangeline, Loren, Breksta, even Alice and Lea were there.

And finally, one last presence arrived and released an aura of pure dread. It was a golem-like entity of which the eyes were currently glowing red.

Gabriel watched everything unfold as she experienced the biggest anxiety of her entire life.

From the underground, even Erebus couldn't help but grimace. He could feel every single one of these people directing their enmity at him. This kind of gathering… just listing the names would be enough to terrify someone to death.

"The Dragon Gods, the Occult God, Fenrir, Rak-Loyra, Kymestuos' Warden, Kymestuos' Hound," he muttered and glanced at Ahura. "Ahura Mazda, your soul companions, and even…" He looked up and cackled. "Even the Slanderer is here... I see you're all quite interested in what I said."

"Explain yourself," Arima uttered. "The Synchronization of Realms isn't just some joke."

"Of course, it isn't. Desynchronized Realms are literally equilibrium. For everything you can find, there is a Desynchronized Realm in it. Within a second, how many things can exist? Within a molecule? Within a life? Within a soul? Within an atom? A wave? A sound? The question is… where are we right now?"

Arima's entire group was silent. Even the people on the surface were being completely mute.

Erebus laughed and made a dramatic bow. "We are the Broken Depths. We are the beginning. And we will return everything to one," he declared and straightened himself. "My goal was to see the Kind Demon with my own eyes. I will say; I'm not disappointed. I'm sure that things will become quite interesting with you around," he added and his body started fading away. "Your invitation will briefly be in your hands. Until then, farewell."

Before his body completely disappeared, Layla's eyes widened and turned into diamond-like jewels. Erebus snickered and said one last sentence before his presence was entirely gone.

"Of course, we will be immensely happy to welcome Chronepsis' daughter as well."