Life Hunter - Chapter 163

When Arima’s mind returned to his body, barely a second had passed since he cast the Fifth Black Art. Karaskan’s body had disappeared and he was now standing on top of a mound with a big cross rooted right next to him.

Layla and the gods were looking at him with perplexed looks. They had seen Karaskan disappear and the tomb appear in his place in less than a second. When Arima turned back to face them, they realized it was already over.

Layla alternated between the tomb and Arima multiple times and then fixed her eyes on Arima’s figure. “Are you okay?” She asked.

“Yeah,” Arima answered shortly and jumped off the tomb. He looked around and scanned the land with his spirit. Everyone noticed that and frowned. “I can’t feel their aura…no…” Arima flapped his wings and flew off.

He stopped at a suitable vantage point, around five hundred meters high, and squinted his eyes at the distance. In every direction he looked at, he could see a stampede closing in.

“{He was saying the truth after all… Well, there was no need to lie at that point,}” Night remarked.

“What is it…?” Layla trailed her words and instantly fell silent when she saw the Téra moving toward them. It was the same for the gods who joined them just after.

“It’s odd, I can’t feel any aura,” Arima muttered as he stared in the distance. “Is that a particularity of the Téra?” He wondered.

“Téra?” Azes frowned.

“That’s how Karaskan called them,” Arima responded and at the same moment, the entirety of Hell suddenly shook because of an unknown reason. Gabriel’s eyes widened and turned toward Arima with great urgency.

“You didn’t stop him!?” When she shouted that, Arima smiled and shrugged.

“I was too late,” he said and Gabriel was speechless. “Heaven will collapse. It’s inevitable.”

“Then what about this plane’s worlds?”

“Don’t worry about that. I already know how to save them,” Arima declared and breathed in. “But before that, we have to break through this horde and reach the Heaven Gate.”

“That’s not possible…” Michael muttered with a tired expression. “None of us have the strength to fight anymore. We also need more time to recover from Pandora’s ailments. And if I’m not wrong,” he pointed his thumb at the Téra. “Those things are strong.”

“They are,” Arima immediately affirmed. “Although I can’t feel any aura emanating from them, my instinct is ringing bells right now,” he admitted and Layla nodded in agreement.

“I’m sure of one thing; if we charge in there, we may die very quickly,” Arima uttered and the gods groaned.

“What are we supposed to do then? You’re not telling us to happily wait for our death, right?” Zeus frowned deeply.

“Who said that?” Arima smirked and Zeus shuddered. That grin under his Kind Demon appearance was way too scary.

“{Night, do you want to make a bet?}” Arima contacted Night and inquired.

“{What? What do you mean?}” His confusion could be felt in his voice.

“{You know, we didn’t manage to do that in the end. But there’s still a way to force it,}” Arima responded and his smirk widened.

“{…Are you seriously going to use another Forbidden Art so early?}”

“{Oh, come on, it’s the easiest one.}”

“{But that’s also the most dangerous one!}” Night snapped and sighed. “{Even more since you perfected it.}”

“{Hum, can someone tell me what’s going on, please?}” Karma asked. Although she knew about the Forbidden Arts, Arima hadn’t given her any details in contrast to Night who had helped during the creation of the magic formations.

Night snorted. “{Something stupid.}”

Arima could only laugh wryly. “{Do you have a better idea? I can’t use my doppelganger again today. It’s the same for the First Blue Art. You perfectly know that I can’t use the upper Arts twice a day or I will damage my own body.}”

“{I know that,}” Night grumbled.

“{And, of course, I can’t use the First Destruction Art since I have to save it. I don’t have enough mana to cast it and escape afterward anyway. So, this is our best shot right now. Asking Malum could also work but the Berserker’s Path is an even worse choice.}”

“{Fine! I got it!}” Night relented. “{I understand. But if you die, I will seriously hate you.}”

Arima snickered. “{Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you survive if things turn bad.}”

“{I never asked for that,}” Night retorted and Arima noticed that his soul beast had already begun to merge his entire soul with his own. “{Let’s do this already.}”

At that exact moment, Layla suddenly freaked out and glared at Arima who looked away to dodge her line of sight.

“What are you doing?”

Her question was voiced very slowly so that she could emphasize each word. Even Arima felt a shiver go down his spine at her tone. “(The fusion worked too well…)” He complained inwardly.

“I’m merely going to get us out of this situation,” he answered calmly and Layla scowled at him.

“I can’t see your future anymore. It’s completely dark. And I’m not even mentioning the oppressive and ominous energy I saw in it. Furthermore…” She paused and revealed on her expression a mix of worry, anger, and renouncement. “It’s a fixed point.”

Arima’s eyes widened. He didn’t think that his decision had actually become an unchangeable fact.

“So, I really have to do it now, huh?”

“What are you going to do?” Chronos couldn’t help but inquire as he perceived the same future as Layla. Arima glanced at him and ignored his question. He inhaled and closed his eyes.

“Let’s go, Night.” He closed his eyes and sighed. “Back off you all,” he ordered and immediately released his aura. The gods felt lightheaded and promptly retreated. Layla stared at Arima’s back for a moment before leaving with Chulainn.

“[Qui vocat legem tuam] (I summon your law).”

“[Pondus verba mea et iudicia mea imperium] (Weight my words and execute my command).”

“[Ego relinquam omnia fati] (I will leave everything to you).”

“[Hic praecepta sunt] (Here are the rules).”

Arima started writing something on thin air at that point of the chant. When he finished, the runes glowed and he resumed the incantation.

“[Vigilate in statera] (Watch the balance).”

“[Fourth Forbidden Art, Quod Lex Libra] (The Law of Libra).”

The runes Arima had written moved on their own and ‘flowed’ inside his body line after line. From that point onward, everything became blank for Arima. His body shined with a blinding light that took the form of a giant pair of dragon wings.

The gods stopped moving altogether. They could not move. The pressure they had suddenly been inflicted with wasn’t something crushing, intense or threatening. It was an irresistible, immense, and boundless power. Something that you were not allowed to reject even in your thoughts.

For them, this unfathomable strength was something that they experienced more than once; they lived with it.

The Original World Laws.

“Libra!” Layla exclaimed. She recalled the time Arima gave his lecture on that magic. “I understand now… It’s not a magic, it’s a ‘Law’.”

Arima’s Forbidden Arts were not called as such just for show. They were techniques centered around a particular theory. The theory of the World Laws. Arima contemplated this subject many times.

What is a World Law? It’s a concept defining the world. It’s an untouchable variable.

For example, when Arima fused Lanya and Lilis together, he had used the concept of Life. The power to create and control Life. It’s a taboo and that’s why it’s forbidden. It’s also a dangerous magic since he could have lost control or even transformed Lanya and Lilis into something drastically dissimilar to a human or a god. Maybe they could have even turned into some sort of monster.

In our case, the concept behind ‘Libra’s Law’ was basically luck and fate. The way it worked was actually really simple. It’s a gamble, just like how Arima explained to his students during his short stay at the academy.

You can do virtually anything with this magic as long as you have luck. Libra’s Law demands two things; a wish and a tribute. The wish can be anything while the tribute is, in other words, an offering.

Imagine that you want to make money with Libra. You could wish to become rich. Then what would you give as a tribute? To have your wish come true, your tribute must have a comparable value. In this specific situation, if you want to be rich, the tribute could be the entirety of the wealth you possess already.

Then, the die is tossed. The rest is only probabilities and luck. You have a 50% chance to be rich and at the same time, you have a 50% chance to lose everything. This is the Law of Libra.

If someone ever decides to use a worthless tribute, the Law would not only take the tribute without return but also bring bad fortune to the caster.

Arima’s wish wasn’t the wipeout of the Téra or something like that. He had chosen to no go for such a gamble since exterminating millions of living beings would most likely require a tremendous tribute.

What Arima wrote during his incantation were the rules of his gamble. They described both the wish and tribute imposed. The tribute was the simplest and yet most valuable one. It was nothing less than his own life. With that kind of chip, almost any wish could be granted. The only thing that would variate is the probability of winning the bet.

So, Arima had to choose well. He did not ask for something uncertain such as ‘make me stronger’. It was too vague and left way too many possible interpretations for Libra. But, on the other hand, it was not viable to make a ‘detailed wish’ because that’s an absurd idea. A wish is not something made to be explained in an essay.

Arima had to have a clear idea of how he wanted to become stronger, one that could be demanded in simple terms. And there was something perfect for that. A technique that he and Night had tried to learn but never succeeded because it was too hazardous and difficult.

Ultimately, the rules Arima wrote during his incantation were these:

“My life is the tribute/”

“I wish for the accomplishment of the Final Resonance/”