Life Hunter

"Daughter?" Layla raised an eyebrow. The way Erebus had said that didn't sound like some sort of title. She looked at her left thinking that Arima might know something but when she saw him wearing an unusually grim expression, she put it on hold.

Arima sighed and scratched his head. He grabbed Michael and teleported to the surface of the planet with his small group following him. Everyone that was already present on the Neo-Heaven immediately looked at him.

He glanced at Slanderer and they nodded at each other. Arima breathed in and spoke, "This is an order, spread out and find everything you can about the Broken Depths."

His order reached everybody loudly and clearly. The place was silent. No one spoke for a short while until they unanimously answered one thing, "Understood."

Gabriel watched dumbfounded as the grandest beings in Existence, ones that she couldn't hope to ever match in her lifetime all obeyed one man as if it was the most natural thing to do. They promptly disappeared from the Neo-Heaven in search of information. Most of them had been residing in Arima's soul and all had heard of the Synchronization of Realms. They were aware of what it entailed.

Gabriel only had the time to blink before everyone had left and Arima stood in front of her with Layla, Arsu, and Azizos. He then casually handed her Michael like he was a sack of potatoes.

"He's alive. His life force has been burned but it's nothing he can't recover from," he told her and turned around to face an old man who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"I've got wind of what was happening here," the elder said and tapped the ground with his cane. His eyes turned reptilian for a second as well. "I will help you."

"Thank you, Korna. I'll leave the Paradox Shards to you since you're the only one who has been there other than me. Take Deva with you. She'll assist you going in and out."

Korna bowed slightly and teleported away. Arima then turned toward Gabriel again.

She didn't need to be told anything to nod. "If I ever learn anything about these Broken Depths, I will contact you."

"Good," Arima uttered and his sigil whirled into existence. The hexagram shined and an imperceptible force for the weaker beings invaded the Realities from the Kind Demon's Crosses.

Within that instant, countless elemental summons emerged everywhere with the same instruction in their minds. The omnipresent creatures, the Téra, also received the order to move and look for clues about their master's targets.

"For now, this should do," Arima uttered and entered his soul realm with Layla and his twin soul companions.

Gabriel still hadn't' processed everything. She glanced at Michael whom she had gently laid on the ground before gazing at the sky.

"Is some disaster brewing again…?"

***

Slanderer was following Arima's command. Within his private dimension, he sat on the ground and focused on the control he had over the World Laws. At the same time, a vermillion bird flew to him and perched on his shoulder.

"This is odd," the former Original Devil muttered and the bird tilted its head. "Where did that Phantasm come from? Was he living between Realities? In Yaeruo? That's why Erebus got possessed then. But if, as he claims, is part of a group that wishes to end of the desynchronization, who are they? Are they all Phantasms?"

As Slanderer was deliberating, the bird started pecking his head. "Not now, little pest. I don't have time to play with… you… wait," he paused and grabbed the bird before staring at it. "Birds… eons ago, only one race ever had extensive contact with Phantasms," he muttered and stood up.

"Looks like I have to pay a visit to the Phoenixes."

***

Arima collapsed on a couch with a tired sigh. Noah then suddenly came out of nowhere and barked before jumping on the seat next to him. This clever dog had gotten used to being around Arima since the incident with the Ark robot seven years prior.

Along with them, the only people currently remaining in his home were Lea, Alice, Layla, Moira, Baba Yaga, Arsu, and Azizos. They all looked at each other with a worried look.

"Dad… what's the Desynchronization of Realms exactly?" Lea finally decided to ask. She was now thirteen years old. Her features had matured a lot but she was still the same lovely girl.

In contrast, Alice had turned nineteen years old recently. She was a beautiful young lady now and her presence radiated her father's pride and her mother's purity all at the same time.

"Same, I wanted to ask that too," a boy with steel-like eyes complemented Lea's words. Moira was nine years old and incredibly sharp for his age. Contrary to his cousins however, he had a very unrestrained behavior.

Arima looked at them and shrugged. "It's a well-established but non-proven theory, I guess," he said and extended his hand toward the door leading to his office. It instantly opened and a book flew to his hand. He swiftly flipped the pages and continued to talk, "Essentially, the world we know of is said to be desynchronized."

"What does that mean?" Alice asked as everyone sat down.

"Hm, how to explain this…? This Existence has countless different realms. Planes, Realities, Universes, Dimensions, Timelines, Paradox Shards, etc. The fact that there are so many is the very reason why this theory of desynchronization came to life. In other words, people started saying that an Existence with so many separated layers, every layer more chaotic than the other, couldn't possibly be something stable or complete."

"It's also sure that there are even more realms not known to us. Everything can become a realm, honestly. My very soul became one. I even made one; Kymestuos. Just look around you. It is possible that even within matter, within an object, life could bloom at a microscopic level or even at an ethereal level. With that idea came the question; where are we?"

"Where we are?" Moira frowned. "Isn't that just philosophical thinking along with existential insecurity?"

Arima laughed. "You're as blunt as always. I guess you could say that. But it's not because its source isn't solid that something isn't real. The fact that we don't know where we are, what our realm, our home, is defined as in the infinity that is Existence, birthed the term Desynchronization of Realms."

"It means that everything we know is separated in bits. The realms that compose what we know are not synchronized. Therefore, people started believing about something; what if we synchronized them? What if we made everything one? This realm would be complete. There would be nothing else and everything would be existing in the same place."

Layla put her hand on her chin. "But… the implications of that, in the end, what are they? What would happen if the realms are synchronized?"

Arima snorted. "Well, it's hard to tell. I can't be sure. But, think about it. Think about the realms that you are aware of. For example, I talked to you about how I met Death, right? That is one realm."

Layla's eyes widened when he said that. She had understood the biggest problem. "What goes where and who goes where… I get it now. Without different realms, there is nothing to 'filter'. The dead; where would they go? If time were to collapse and create a paradox, where would it go? If the spirits of mortals couldn't be collected by the Spirit Tree, where would they go? Would the Tree just become something everyone has access to? Would everything be ruled by the same rules? There is too much to consider, and the more there are, the more dangerous the Synchronization of Realms sounds."

"Okay, okay, that sounds bad," Moira raised his voice. "But how would they do it? These Broken Depths or whatever, how will they accomplish something so massive in scale?"

"{I believe they have a plan or are backed up by something or someone,}" Krynox spoke to everyone. "{It's honestly not impossible to trigger the Synchronization. For instance, Arima is fully able to do it.}"

Arima nodded in response. "As he says, I've been studying this theory for a while now. But what I've been researching is if it's a good thing or not. The way to cause the Synchronization? I already have it. It's certainly not easy, but I can do it. The only unknown thing is the result. These Broken Depths are playing around with something way too hazardous. They might erase Existence as a whole or throw everything into chaos and in the off chance that it does actually some good, who knows what it would cost."

Everyone fell silent after that. Noah looked around the room and barked to break the silence. Arima faintly smiled and petted the dog.

"Well… in that case, what would be the best course of action? When we find those people, how should we deal with them?" Baba Yaga inquired.

"We'll see. For now, I have everyone looking for them as well as my familiars for each of my Crosses. It's all we can do. But they apparently are planning something since Erebus said that I'd soon get my 'invitation'; whatever that means."

"So, we can only wait, huh?" Layla remarked and Arima shrugged. "All right then. What about we follow with another question. Why did Erebus call me Chronepsis' daughter?" When she said that, all eyes in the room turned toward her in surprise. "Arima, there's no way that you don't have an idea on it, right? Tell me."

Arima groaned leaned against the couch. "Aah, this day is tiring," he quipped and Layla scowled at him. He chuckled wryly. "Okay, okay… Yes, I do have an idea. It was an assumption of mine from a while ago actually. But I didn't have any proof or anything else to back it up so I let it be. Layla," he called and she squinted. "What if I told you Lanya's mother, your mother, is still alive?"

"…what?"

***

Meanwhile, Jorga was exploring the entire Reality in his mist form when he sensed Slanderer moving out of his dimension.

'Where is he going?' He asked inwardly and focused on the path the former Devil was taking. 'Is that…? Is he trying to meet the Phoenixes? Hm, it's not a bad idea but I wonder if Ra will nicely welcome him,' he thought.

Jorga was about to follow Slanderer to assist him when something else coincidentally entered his vision. "Impossible…" He muttered as he materialized as a huge serpent in the middle of a sea of clouds. He looked down with his huge azure eyes and scanned the planet he had appeared on.

"How come I've never seen this before?" The World Serpent was stunned. He plunged through the clouds and reached the ground. At the same time, his body shrunk considerably and the mist following him scattered. He started floating around a large object placed on a barren land.

"This…"

***

"What do you mean?" Layla frowned. "I saw my mother take her life with own eyes. Even before that, how does she have anything to do with Chronepsis?"

Arima sighed. "Well, how should say it? Hm, basically, the parents you know of aren't your 'real' ones."

"That's not possible," Layla immediately retorted. "I'm sure that I, Lanya at the time, was her biological daughter. Same for my father since it's because of him that I was half-lizard."

"Let me rephrase it," Arima said. "Your body was given to you by them indeed. But your life, your soul, wasn't."

"…are you trying to say that a third party granted me a soul while I was still in the womb?"

"Yes, and that someone was probably Chronepsis. He must have a child of his own from whom he took the soul and transferred it to a pregnant woman. In other words, yes, in a sense, you are his actual daughter."

Layla fell silent and everyone looked at her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did he never tell me?" It was obvious in her tone that she holding in her emotions. "If what you're saying is true, he gave me his inheritance while hiding what he was to me. Why?"

Arima squinted and opened his mouth after a moment, "If I had to guess… I'd say he did that to protect you."

"Protect me?"

"Yes, it must have had something to do with your mother. As I already noticed many times before, your soul, well, Lanya's soul, is incredibly special. The way it survived after transferring bodies, the way it held during the fusion between Lanya and Lilis that gave birth to you, the way you can attune with time magic as easily as breathing… These aren't things that a regular soul can do and it's probably something you got from your mother."

Layla couldn't reply. She was trying to assess what she had just been told.

"Wait, there's something I'm confused about," Moira spoke up and Arima looked at him. "If I understood correctly, Chronepsis had a daughter with someone whose soul was incredibly unique and he transferred that child's soul to another body. By this, I assume that the daughter in question, Lanya, was in danger somehow and that Chronepsis had no other choice but to extract her soul to save her. And that's why he never told her about their bond either."

"You understood correctly," Arima nodded.

"Then," Moira resumed. "How come that Erebus guy knew about it? And why did he say that?"

Layla's eyes widened and everyone else in the room realized the implication.

Arima closed one eye and gazed at Moira. "You're way too perceptive, you know that? Even I wasn't like this at your age," he jested but no one laughed. "Well… as for why he knew, I can only speculate. But if I'm not wrong-!!"

He suddenly stopped talking and his eyes narrowed. He had just received a telepathic message from Jorga. The people around him were looking at him with perplexed faces. He exhaled and stood up.

"Jorga found something," he said and glanced at Layla. "I'm sure you'd want to see it."

Arima didn't give his group the time to react and teleported them with a snap of his fingers. The next thing they know, they were standing on a desolate land where the horizon was filled with fog.

Layla looked around briefly until her eyes fell on a certain figure a few hundred meters away. She instantly jumped toward it as if it was an urgent matter. She waved her hand and literally dispersed the fog that was present over the whole planet.

Her expression was the exact description of shock and sorrow. What laid in front of her was the large body of a very recognizable silver dragon. She slowly placed her hand on the scales and gradually traced them until the head. There she saw the dying expression of the father she had just learned about. It was peaceful; unbelievably peaceful.

"This is a battlefield," Baba Yaga commented while observing the surroundings.

"True, I can feel lingering traces," Alice agreed. "And it's old. Very old."

"{Indeed}," a deep voice reached everyone. They looked up to see a big azure snake hovering above them. "{Seven thousand years old to be exact.}"

"Jorga," Arima raised his voice. "What's your opinion on this?"

"{Jack shit.}"

"…" Everyone deadpanned at the Dragon God.

"{What? What do you want me to say? My power is to be able to monitor every corner of the Reality I'm in. I should have known about this planet a long time ago already. But it oddly appeared in my vision just a few moments ago. There's something else that's weird. Arima, I'm sure you've noticed.}"

"I did," Arima nodded. "This planet doesn't have one of my Crosses."

"{That would mean that this place was on the level of a Paradox Shard or Death's Realm when Impios cast the First Black Art from the Eternal Haven,}" Krynox remarked.

"Apparently. What about you, Krynox? Shouldn't you know something about this? Or even the Broken Depths for that matter."

"{Unfortunately, I don't. This place is a given since even I couldn't possibly oversee a separated space rivaling a Paradox Shard. As for the Broken Depths, I've never heard of them. They're most likely a group that was formed in secret within a place like Yaeruo, the boundaries of Realities.}"

"Now that I think about it, if this planet became detectable just now, wouldn't that mean it has something to do with the Broken Depths?" Moira commented and everyone nodded.

"Probably. It would also mean that Chronepsis' death is related to them and consequently, Layla's mother as well," Arima added as he inspected the silver dragon's body. "In that case, Krynox, what do you know about Chronepsis? His encounters?"

"{Hm, The Watcher has always been very elusive. Even I couldn't track him. He was incredibly perceptive and knowledgeable. I'm pretty sure he could even feel my presence back when I was still the Will of Existence. But, even then, I could still somewhat know of his whereabouts. That is until a certain day where he completely disappeared from my radars. I remember getting curious about it but I quickly forgot about it.}"

"What do you think caused that?"

"{Well, evidently, he crossed paths with someone or something; seemingly, the Broken Depths.}"

"Dad, that man from earlier, he was a Phantasm, right? Do you think their entire group is composed of people like him?" Lea inquired and Arima mused.

"Well, it could be. We can't be sure. Though, it would probably be within a Phantasm's capability to hide a place like this. To be exact, a Delusion Phantasm would have the ability to do it. You can think of them as cousins of Mithandruj, my Evil Spirit. They can bend the truth and shape reality with words and ideas. They probably made this place unreachable."

"Ugh, this is getting so damn complicated," Moira grumbled "Why did the Broken Depths kill Chronepsis? Why did they hide this place? Are they the reason Lanya was in danger during her birth?" He muttered and everyone sweat dropped. To be honest, they all thought that a nine-year-old shouldn't even be able to keep up in the first place but he was in fact one of the most insightful among them.

"Hm, maybe it's one of those!" Azizos abruptly raised her hand and exclaimed loudly. The blond little girl was smiling brightly.

"One of those?" Everyone uttered at the same time. Arsu looked at her twin sister and tilted his head.

"Yes! A story where a traveler ends up in an unknown land ruled by an influential family. He and the princess of the family fall in love and make a child, the family gets angry and tries to eliminate the traveler and the princess' unlawful child."

Everyone, Arima included, blinked at Azizos' energetic narration.

"Wait a damn second…" Moira rubbed his eyes. "That's… not impossible, right?"

"It's a very dramatic scenario. It's so dramatic that it doesn't sound real, but that would explain everything," Alice complemented.

"{Um, I think I'm missing something. What do you mean?}" Jorga was confused.

"Lanya was Chronepsis' daughter," Arima answered and the World Serpent blinked. Realization then struck him as he thought of something.

"{Her soul… so that's why. Layla, can I enter your soul?}" Jorga asked and Layla scowled at him.

"Why?"

"{When it comes to spirit and soul perception, I don't think I lose to anyone. Not even the mighty guy you have for husband. I should be able to determine which races Lanya's soul has been given birth by.}"

Layla's eyes widened. She glanced at Arima and he nodded. "All right. Do it."

Jorga immediately turned into a blue mist afterward. It engulfed Layla and she voluntarily opened a path to her soul. What Jorga was trying to do was reading her soul stele.

A soul stele is a sort of crystallized record of one's existence. In the past, Arima had done something similar. He had altered Night's soul stele so that he could transform into a human. It was a very complex thing to do and the World Serpent was the best candidate to perform it.

It took around half an hour for the mist to finally turn back into a serpent. Everyone had waited in silence. When Jorga reformed, he had a pensive expression on his face.

"So, what's your verdict?" Layla inquired.

"{You father was indeed a dragon. It's quite obviously Chronepsis since the kind of mark that I saw on your soul stele could only have been left by at least a Dragon King. As for your mother… she's a Phantasm.}"

"Well, shit…" Moira uttered. "This might actually point toward the midget's theory."

Jorga then started laughing. "{You have no idea of how right you are.}"

"Huh? How so?"

"{Her mother isn't some regular Phantasm, she's a Royal Phantasm.}"

Moira's eyes twitched. He turned toward Azizos with an incredulous look. "No way… did she actually got it right?" He mumbled and everyone let out at least a chuckle.

"But what is a Royal Phantasm exactly?" Lea asked. "I thought each Phantasm had an 'idea' they ruled and fed on, like Torment and Delusion."

"{You're correct, young one,}" Krynox said. "{But Royal Phantasms are very special. They truly can be considered like the royalty of a country. What makes them special is precisely what they eat.}"

"What is it?"

"{Everything.}"

"Sorry?"

"{Everything. A Royal Phantasm can consume whatever they see fit. They can quite literally get stronger by just eating regular food.}"

"Isn't that like… too OP?" Moira uttered.

"{Well, there are limitations. A specific food can't make them stronger indefinitely, it loses effectiveness after a while depending on what it is.}"

"Then, did Mom inherit that ability?" Lea wondered and Jorga shook his head.

"{From what I saw, she didn't,}" he stated. "{To be exact, only her soul has inherited a Phantasm nature. That's the reason why it survived the fusion as well as the reason why she can integrate timelines inside her own body.}"

"Well, I believe we have our answer," Arima said and Layla sighed. She closed her eyes and invoked a silver magic formation on the ground. It encompassed Chronepsis' body and glowed with a warm light. Then, slowly, the dragon's body started disappearing as the earth of the barren planet was suddenly covered in greenery.

After a short while, Chronepsis' body was nowhere to be seen and it had been replaced by a large silver statue of a dragon deploying its wings. Numerous roses had also grown around it.

Layla opened her eyes and her diamond-like pupils flashed once before reverting to normal.

"It's beautiful grave," Baba Yaga praised and everyone agreed.

"There's only one thing left to so," Layla declared. "Find the Phantasms and uncover their relation with the Broken Depths."

"You're right," Arima nodded.

"{Regarding that matter, Slanderer is currently on his way to meet the Phoenixes,}" Jorga said. "{I was about to follow him when I located this planet.}"

"The Phoenixes?" Alice tilted her head. "Why would uncle Sland go meet them? Do they have some information?"

"{In all logic, they should,}" Krynox answered. "{It's not a really known affair, but a very long time ago, the Phoenixes waged a war against the Phantasms when the latter were still relatively famous. If I remember correctly, the conflict started when a Royal Phantasm attempted to eat a Phoenix for their rebirth trait.}"

"{Phoenixes are few but considerably powerful individually. They surpass even dragons. Their small number makes them hold each other very dearly. Harming one Phoenix is harming all of them. On top of that, they have a natural disposition that allows them to gravely hurt Phantasms.}"

"Oh, they sound awesome," Moira commented.

"{Of course, even the Creators didn't dare to offend them. They're also very reserved though. They might not like us visiting them,}" Krynox added.

"Well, I guess this is the only clue we have concerning the Broken Depths anyway," Arima said. "I'll follow Slanderer with Layla. Maybe the Phoenixes know something about Chronepsis' story. Everyone else, return inside my soul realm."

"Huh? I want to go meet the legendary birds too, you know," Moira scowled.

"Hey, us too!" Lea and Alice shouted.

"Oh no, young girl. You stay here," Layla immediately told her daughter. "It might be dangerous. As for you, Alice, your mother will kill me if she ever learns I put you in danger. Don't even get me started on Malum."

The two girls' heads drooped and Arima chuckled. "Well, Moira can come."

"Eeeh, why only him?!" Lea whined.

"Because he might very well be the Phoenixes' natural counter," Arima explained and everyone was confused. Even the boy in question didn't know what he meant. "And I'm sure Karma and Night would be fine with it… probably."

"{To be fair, Karma can be terrifying when she wants to…}" Jorga muttered in the background.

"Anyway, it's decided. Jorga, I want you to continue looking for traces of the Broken Depths on your own," Arima instructed. "They probably revealed this planet to us as a taunt. Erebus might have even done it on his own considering his personality. Go see if anything similar has appeared; like sudden talks about the Desynchronization of Realms and whatnot."

"{Understood,}" the World Serpent turned into mist and disappeared.

Arima turned toward Layla and Moira. "Let's go," he said and they nodded. Natus was projected by his eyes and the three of them disappeared in a flash of green light.

"Well, I guess we can only stay at home," Baba Yaga wryly smiled.

"I call bullshit," Alice grumbled. "Let's go back, Lea. We might as well finish the little project we started."

"Oh, yes!" Lea's face suddenly brightened. "Let's go, let's go! I'm sure that Dad will be even more surprised than when we made the teleportation formation."

Baba Yaga shook her head as she watched the two girls plot about something. She glanced at Noah who had been silently spectating near her feet. She crouched and petted the dog. "I guess we're the only normal ones here," said the fabled witch to the several-hundred-year-old dog.

***

"What is the meaning of this, Tormento!?" A voice boomed inside of a circular hall. The wall was mainly composed of many quartz-like pillars and between each of them was located a seat on which sat many kinds of people. The races were very varied but all of them were in fact Phantasms who had taken possession of a body.

All these beings were currently overlooking a man standing in the center of the room. That man was Erebus, newly named Tormento, and he wore his usual unbreakable smile as he was getting scolded.

"Who told you to reveal that wretched child's identity to the Kind Demon!? You even unsealed that planet! What if the Demon finds his way to us because of you?!"

Tormento laughed lightly. "Well, wouldn't that be interesting?"

"Do you realize what you're saying?" A different voice said. "The God of Eternal Night is undeniably a powerful existence. He alone could destroy all our plans. The Watcher's daughter may be a bastard but she still holds the key to reach our realm. Because of you, it's a matter of time before they notice her legacy."

"What can I say?" Tormento's grin widened. "This is your fault. You sent Engaño to kill Chronepsis and the daughter he had fled with. You even hid it from Her Highness. But when you found out about the child's unexpected survival, you were too scared of the Kind Demon to attempt assassinating her. What a pathetic display."

"Watch your words, Tormento!"

"For the Broken Depths' victory, we couldn't let that damned dragon cloud Her Highness' mind any further. We would have become the weak link of the Three Clans and His Majesty would have erased us."

"We had no choice!"

Tormento clicked his tongue and cleaned his ear. 'These fools. Everyone knows why you did it. You just couldn't tolerate a relationship between a Royal and a dragon. That hurt your cheap pride,' he cursed them internally but retained his smirk on the outside.

"Now that it came to this, take responsibility for your actions. The council orders you!" A fifth voice echoed and everyone started whispering behind their wall. Tormento frowned at that. They seemed to have concluded something unanimously.

"Your mission is to kill Layla Reigen Blade at any cost!"