Life Hunter - Chapter 179

The black dragon’s eyes and aura changed drastically. A grin was plastered on his face as if it was never going to do away. His entire body started undergoing some changes as the bones cracked loudly

“This body is already an undead apparently,” the dragon muttered. “That’s why I can’t fully change into a skeleton, huh?”

“{Yeah, you don’t need to do that. You would lose the advantages this dragon form can offer you, Malum,}” Night said.

“I’m just used to a skeletal body… Well, I guess I can work with this,” Malum laughed and the cocoon created by the Second Blue Art burst open. His eyes sharpened and glared at the dark flames that were gradually dispersing.

The first thing that got out was a huge golden bell.

“…The Bell of Mictlan,” the dragon muttered as he looked at the big object.

“{What is that?}” Karma inquired.

“‘Mictlan’ is the lowest and northernmost section of Hell in Aztec mythology,” Malum answered “The God of Death, Mictlantcuhtli, would ring it when his enemies were too strong or too many. The Bell had the power to shatter anything with its sound but the problem was that it affected everything around it. And to ring it, you have to be next to it.”

“In the end, the Bell will help you destroy your enemies but will hurt you at the same time,” Malum snorted. “It isn’t that strong against individual enemies, but it can control the dead and most importantly, it’s capable of nullifying magic. For example, ‘Dark Nova’ should’ve killed him but he managed to break out thanks to that Bell.”

As he said that, the Bell rung once again and made him frown. Just after, the dark flames of the Art spread far and wide and filled Malum’s entire vision.

A golden light then suddenly broke through. Malum’s grin widened when he saw that. A giant claw emerged from the flames and the rest of the fire was blown away by a single flap from the pair of humongous wings.

Fafnir was back with an even scarier appearance. His size couldn’t even be taken as a joke anymore. He already went over one thousand meters in height. His eyes were full crimson and his scales were even shinier than before as if they truly were thick plates of gold.

“This is gonna be fun,” Malum cackled. Fafnir seemed to have lost his ability to talk and inhaled before directing a ‘Dragon’s Breath’ toward Malum. The latter snickered and whirled Karma. The katana changed into a huge greatsword.

“Big guy, don’t underestimate the Berserker’s Path,” Malum jested and flapped his wings. He didn’t chant anything but lightning gathered around his sword as he swung it at the large fire breath.

Thunder roared and Malum cut through the flames and dispersed them with the shockwave alone. He continued his momentum and reached the golden dragon’s head. He grinned and punched the huge dragon right between his eyes.

Like before with Layla, Fafnir shouldn’t have had any problem taking a physical blow from someone much smaller and weaker than him but Malum’s punch was not only painful, it even made him tumble. Malum grinned and caught up with him at an incredible speed, he then kicked him in the back and the golden dragon roared.

Malum didn’t stop and continued that for a long time, he started playing with Fafnir as if he was a ball and he was playing some sort of game. It was an odd sight. You just had to imagine a small insect making a human fly in all directions and you could understand the absurdity of the situation.

“{Hey, Malum!}” Night shouted at some point and Malum abruptly stopped punching and swinging his sword. Fafnir seemed to be in a bad state and, considering his size, has lost enough blood to fill an entire river.

But the one who was the most injured wasn’t him but Malum. His entire body was cracking weirdly and blood was flowing from every muscle. His veins had burst while he was pounding the giant dragon and his flesh had been torn apart.

“{If you continue like that your body will not last,}” Night reprimanded and Malum clicked his tongue.

“That’s why I prefer a skeletal body…”

“{Idiot,}” Night immediately retorted. “{Without the flesh, your bones would have received all of the tolls and broken ages ago.}”

Malum grunted and Night sighed. “{You and Arima have such a lucky state where even if you use the Berserk’s Path, the other will be able to use it with a clear mind. You are the most compatible with this, so use it well.}”

“I know, I know…” Malum responded with an annoyed face. “Why am I supposed to listen to you anyway?”

“{Because I’m the little angel in your head,}” Night uttered and Karma laughed.

Malum snorted. “I’m not even going all out. The Berserker’s Path can go much further.”

“{I know. But don’t use it. Focus on Fafnir now. If you can’t hold back your strength, use the Arts. Your magical output is also affected by the berserk state so be aware of that too, don’t abuse them.}”

Malum rolled his eyes in exasperation. He had too many restrictions for this fight. “It’s a pain in the ass…” He grumbled as he observed the golden dragon who was convulsing and still getting bigger. “…How strong does this guy want to get until he’s satisfied?”

Fafnir roared and Malum’s body automatically bent by instinct. His eyes narrowed and the next thing he knew, he had received a blow that sent him flying through space. He coughed blood and groaned.

He used his wings to stop his momentum and lifted Karma. “What was it again…” He muttered questioningly and swung the great sword at the giant claw falling on him. “[Aeterna],” he chanted and the wave of lightning exploded.

The effects of the Berserker’s Path were showed as the explosion came out a lot more powerful than with Arima. But Malum’s hands bled and his magic circuits suddenly overheated. The worst was that Fafnir only suffered a scratch and still somehow made his claw connect.

“[Fourth Destruction Art, Vashta Nerada].”

Malum conjured a wall of darkness and the Art even managed to absorb the physical force. And one more time, he felt all of his magic circuits trembling.

But it only saved Malum temporarily, Fafnir used his Manifestation and teleported right next to him. “Oh shit, I forgot he could do that!” Malum exclaimed and used Karma to protect himself.

This time, he failed to stop in time and crashed on a planet and even went through it just with the momentum given by Fafnir’s assault. Malum only stabilized after he emerged from the planet’s underground on the opposite side.

He then grinned and laughed maniacally. “That’s how it should be!” As expected, the battle excited him to no end.

Two golden hammers then materialized around Malum and tried to crush him. The undead dragon sneered. He threw Karma in the air and extended his arms outward. He slammed the two hammers on each side with his palm and stopped them with his physical strength alone.

His arms made some loud cracking noises and even more veins burst.

“{Hey!}” Night called but Malum ignored him.

His fingers pierced the hammers’ surface and he made the giant weapons spin with an upward push. When the handles were facing him, he promptly grabbed them. The two weapons immediately tried to return inside Fafnir’s Vault but Malum used another Art.

“[Fourth White Art, Upper-Layer, Digillum Aeterna].”

White chains coiled around the two hammers and forced them to stay in Malum’s hands. At the same time, another section of Malum’s magic circuits became overloaded and made him go through horrendous pain.

Fafnir teleported right next to him just after. His expression was even more twisted than before. He seemed to be enraged that someone was trying to take his possessions. He inhaled and gathered fire in his throat.

Malum inhaled too as black flames gathered around him. The two dragons roared simultaneously and the gold and dark breaths clashed together and exploded.

“[Accelerando],” Malum chanted and channeled his magic through his body. Different circuits broke again and he appeared right behind Fafnir with even more speed than Arima. He contracted his muscles and swung the two hammers he carried.

At that moment, Malum’s limiter had been completely released. His body was now exerting 700% of its normal capability. The berserk dragon roared and hit Fafnir with both hammers at full strength. The two hammers broke through the golden dragon’s scales and propelled him inside a nearby burning star, slightly smaller than the sun.

Malum dropped the two hammers and raised his trembling arms. He caught the falling Karma with his right hand and pointed his left palm at the star.

“[Second Destruction Art, Cavum Nigrum].” A small black bead formed in Malum’s palm and was thrown toward the star.

The small marble cracked and exploded to let place to the giant black hole. The dark mass instantly covered the entirety of the star and swallowed it. Malum gritted his teeth and closed his hand into a fist.

The black hole abruptly stopped attracting the nearby asteroids and planets and disappeared as fast as it came. When it was gone, the star that it had ‘swallowed’ with Fafnir inside was nowhere to be seen.

Malum panted heavily just after and grunted in pain as some strange, glowing cyan fissures appeared on his body, starting from his chest. His heart, to be exact.

“{I told you to not overdo it!}” Night scolded him again.

***

“That’s…” Jorga was astounded as he watched from afar. If he had to be honest, the moment Fafnir came out of the Second Blue Art’s confinement, he thought that Arima was going to be overwhelmed. But when he saw the black dragon beating Fafnir around like it was nothing, he became utterly shocked.

“That’s not Arima,” Layla explained. “It’s Malum, his counterpart.” Jorga’s eyes widened. “The technique he’s using right now is the ‘Berserker’s Path’. In theory, if you abandon all of your emotions and let your bloodlust and rage take the upper hand, you can destroy every limit of your subconscious and fight like an enraged beast. Malum and Arima can more or less stay sane because they are separated and can help each other…”

“But there are of course some big disadvantages. The first one is the self-harm caused by this technique. Malum is already in tatters right now. 80% of his injuries are because of himself,” she said. “But the worst thing is not that.”

“…Are you talking about his magic circuits?” Jorga asked. “It’s obvious that there’s something wrong with them from what I can see.”

Layla nodded. “Magic circuits are like roads you build for your magic. When a powerful magic is cast and goes through these ‘roads’, they damage it a little. And if you cast the same magic again, it will use the same ‘road’ and then destroy the circuit altogether. That’s why some magic can never be used twice a day, a week, a month or even a year.”

She sighed and squinted her eyes to look at Malum. “Right now, Malum is in a berserk state; both physically and ethereally. Each one of his magic generates huge power. In this state, every time he uses a specific magic like the Kind Demon’s Arts, he will not only suffer great pain but the circuits will burst and overheat.”

“In this fight,” she paused. “He’s only able to use a particular magic once,” she declared and Jorga’s expression darkened. “Fortunately, the Kind Demon’s Arts are special and use different circuits for each Art but other than that, Malum is only able to use a magic of one type once.”

“For example, since he used ‘Aeterna’ earlier, he lost the ability to use basic lightning magic anymore,” she stated and Jorga fell silent.

***

“{You already used two of the Destruction Arts and don’t even think about the First, or even all of the other Arts which are ranked First, you will die by just using them. You are also far from having the same control as Arima. It’s the same warning for any of the Forbidden Arts,}” Night was quite upset and spoke to Malum whose body was shaking uncontrollably.

Night sighed. “{…How long can you hold?}”

Malum grinned. “Five minutes. That thing is getting stronger. It may not be obvious but I know it. I had to increase my strength several times to keep up with him and that’s how I kept the balance. But it won’t last long. I will soon have to let place to Arima again.”

“{Go ahead then,}” Night said. “{You have five minutes,}” he said and contacted Jorga through telepathy. Just after that, a fissure in space opened and a golden claw, bigger than before by at least a fold, emerged.

“Last round,” Malum laughed.