Life Hunter - Chapter 191

“That was quite a show… if I can say so,” Raylein said. He was crouching in front of the now gone tombs. He tilted his head to look at where Arima had left and squinted his eyes.

“Morals, huh? Indeed, they’re important. Without them, one cannot even consider himself powerful,” he stood up and smiled. “But what is fascinating right now is how someone who is not even ascended can manipulate the Laws,” he muttered and casually walked out of the cemetery.

“What was the price?”

***

“Can you tell me the situation about the Téra?” Arima asked Jin once they arrived in the main hall of Aurorae’s headquarters.

“Téra?”

“The odd monsters that appeared recently,” Arima replied as he put a lollipop in his mouth and sat on a couch. Jin smiled wryly.

“You still like sweets as much as before?”

“Of course,” Arima said and his companions all smiled.

Jin sighed. “So ‘Téra’ is the name of those things?”

“Yeah. Téras means ‘monster’ in Greek. Téra is the plural form by the way,” Arima added. “I figured you might want to know this”

Jin tilted his head. “Why is it in Greek?”

“Because it came out of the Pandora,” Arima answered and Jin’s expression changed from perplexed to confused. “It’s a long story. Just answer my question please.”

“Well… when the Téra appeared, the first sights were around the highly populated areas. This capital wasn’t an exception.”

“Yeah, they appear around the places with the highest concentrations of aura,” Arima commented.

“After that, nothing really happened actually. There were, of course, some casualties because some civilians were not able to evacuate in time. But in the end, the army is equipped with Eion weapons and commanded by trustworthy people. We got rid of them quickly.”

Arima nodded. “I think that’s because the strength of the Téra varies in function of the aura’s intensity. Humans on this planet are weak but the weapons they wield are not. It’s that disparity that helped you to defeat them so easily.”

“I see… Can I ask you something then?” Jin spoke up. “Will it stop?”

“No,” Arima immediately answered. “They will keep coming back and no matter if you want it or not, they’ll come back stronger.”

“Then what should we do?” Jin inquired. “And how strong will they become?”

“Strong enough to counter any weapon you have. Physical bullets, Eion bullets… and at some point, even Plasma guns and nukes won’t be enough anymore. Thus, the only way to prevent humans from being wiped out is to learn magic.”

“Thanks to Pandora, this world received magic circuits. That’s why some children would happen to use mana by mistake after they have been connected so unexpectedly,” Arima explained and Jin calmly listened.

“If I’m not wrong. You should have created a special institute for them already, no?”

“I did,” Jin affirmed. “The moment I heard and saw what those children could do, I was obliged to gather them somewhere. To first understand what was happening and also avert unrest and unfortunate accidents.”

“That’s not necessary anymore,” Arima declared. “The circuits were incomplete before but I happened to perfect them earlier by chance. Everyone on this planet will soon reveal the same kind of abilities. You should broadcast this. It’s always better to tell them what’s going to happen rather than let them discover it alone. Because in that case, they will act senselessly and derange the peace we built.”

Jin nodded slowly. “But it doesn’t mean that you should close that facility,” Arima added and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, he opened them again and everyone was teleported away from the hall.

The four of them appeared in the middle of a large schoolyard. There were hundreds of children playing there. Their age ranged from 10 and 18 years old.

“This is… the enclosure for the teens,” Jin didn’t even bother asking how Arima had found the institute and just said where they were.

Night was looking around when his eyes widened in surprise. “There are some talents here. I already found two inheritors along with a few great souls,” he commented and Layla agreed.

Arima was also a bit surprised. ‘Well, they were the kids which connected to the circuits first. We can assume they’re pretty talented,’ he thought and then used telepathy to link his mind to everyone here.

He connected his mind with hundreds of people and that fluctuation didn’t go unnoticed for some of the children here.

But Arima was also hearing things like ‘Who’s that?’, ‘I think I saw him in a book’, ‘No, he’s much more handsome’, and others…

“Listen,” Arima spoke and everyone heard it directly inside their heads. Everything became silent as they looked at him. “My name is Arimane Blade. I’m currently the one at the top of this planet, which you should be aware of if you take history classes seriously.”

When he said that, the kids were already chatting among themselves. Some were laughing and others were completely ignoring him and treating him like a fool. Layla wore a pained expression.

“…Poor children,” she muttered.

Arima ‘smiled’ nonchalantly and snapped his fingers. The most impolite ones instantly coughed blood and fell on the ground. Their body was instantly paralyzed but Arima was kind enough to not put them under any suffering. Even that blood meant nothing, they didn’t feel any pain, but that red color was enough to petrify more than one.

After the first batch of kids, the rest followed and simply fell on their knees without even knowing the reason why. Afterward, they all moved their head toward the same direction as if they were all manipulated by some unknown force.

When their eyes fell on Arima, they immediately shivered. “Children, if you’re not even capable of recognizing my name, you need some discipline,” he coldly said and glanced at the few dozen who were still standing. They were the only ones who had recognized him and didn’t dare to be disrespectful so they were not put under any pressure.

“Arima, you don’t need to be that harsh. They’re just kids. You disappeared for more than 80 years and your appearance changed a lot. Of course, people wouldn’t recognize you like that.”

Arima chuckled. “Jin, have you forgotten about yourself?”

“Huh?” Jin exclaimed then understood. He was the current leader. So, he basically was the equivalent of the World President at the moment. It would be strange that those kids didn’t even know that. So, it meant that they acted disrespectfully in front of Arima while also ignoring his existence. “…I’m pissed now. Arima, give them another blow.”

Arima snickered as he observed the children around him. “I’ll be brief. This institute will become an academy to train people in magic and combat. The monsters you all have heard about will one day be much stronger. So, humans will have to become strong enough to retaliate.”

“Consider yourself as the first elites that will stand on the front lines. You, of course, have the choice to refuse, but your talent would be wasted,” Arima announced. “Also, don’t overestimate yourself. A warrior who doesn’t know his limits is mere cannon fodder. Don’t get drunk with the power you possess now.”

“To make sure you don’t, I have a very simple method,” Arima grinned and his sigil glowed. Every child in the court suddenly fell in trance and looked as if they had suddenly been knocked out.

From Arima’s perspective, nothing was happening but inside the children’s minds, that same man was raising his hand and a new pressure was pinning them down. He smiled evilly and when they blinked, they witnessed the entire solar system explode.

They all screamed and returned to reality. All of them were sweating with a pale expression.

“That’s how you’ll never get ahead of yourself,” Arima smirked. “Remind yourself, every day, no matter how strong you become, I’ll be able to kill you in less than a second. Even if you’re all teamed up together.”

The children gulped and even the ones who had not been rude at all were still scared to death.

“Good,” Arima clapped and smiled. “I usually am not so forceful but I won’t be the one training you so take this as a very short lesson from me to you all. I will bring some acquaintances to teach you how to fight though.”

“This will become effective next week. Good luck, kids,” Arima declared and brought his group back to Aurorae’s HQ. The entire institute was silent. The only noise you could hear was from the nearby yard containing the children younger than ten. That silence remained for at least half an hour. Most of them were still too shocked to talk.

For them, this planet was their entire world. They had no conception of parallel worlds, dimensions, or planes. For them, Earth was everything. But that man was capable of even getting rid of the sun.

***

“So, you want me to arrange everything?” Jin complained to Arima. “You’re back. Couldn’t you work a bit too?”

“You’re the leader, not me;” Arima sat comfortably on the couch and smiled. “Anyway, now I have to call said teachers,” he waved his hand and blue threads of light emerged from his palm. “They’re in another world… but I should be able to contact them like this,” he mumbled and the threads he had just produced suddenly wriggled everywhere around him as they entered transparent vortexes which had appeared out of nowhere. He was sending a telepathic message through each one of those threads.

“{No problem.}”

“{Sure.}”

“{Why not.}”

“{I will gladly accept.}”

“{Yes.}”

Arima received a positive answer for almost every thread and his sigil glowed as he circulated his mana. A magic circle formed below him then expanded to encompass the entire hall.

Raylein who was sitting on the roof of the huge building looked down in surprise. “A teleportation circle… it’s a simple array but it’s connected to another world,” he frowned. “The principle in itself isn’t really shocking, but the connection is being made through dimensional paths. It shouldn’t be possible…” He said and put his hand on his chin.

“Maybe he’s using his new power to do it,” he assumed and the circle glowed as exactly eleven figures appeared in the hall of Aurorae.

“Oh, right,” Arima remembered something. “B.A.N, temporarily disengage the defenses outside.” At that exact moment, a loud sound came from the outside and made the ground shake.

“Hey Arima, it’s been a while,” a familiar voice resounded in the hall.

“Nice to see you again, Arister,” Arima smiled and shook hands with his friend.

Jin was already mystified because of all the people that abruptly appeared around him but he also gasped when he spotted two monstrous eyes looking at them through the windows. The eyes were clearly distinct from one another and that meant they did not pertain to the same creature.

“Oh?” Raylein exclaimed discreetly when he saw the two beasts. From the highest point of the building, he could see the two huge beasts which had just been teleported there.

Fortunately, the property was enormous. A lot bigger than a castle. It had many garages, labs, and facilities for Eion installations. This place was more like a giant building with an entire city hidden inside and underground. The two beasts Raylein was looking at were walking in the territory around it, which basically was a vast garden.

“By the way,” Arister observed Arima and Night, then his eyes fell on Layla. “What the heck happened to you?”