Life Hunter - Chapter 259

Arima walked toward the Moses basket that had just fallen from the sky and crouched right next to it. He looked inside of it and snickered. There he was, staring at the face of his baby-self.

“{That’s… awkward?}” Krynox couldn’t find the right word for it.

Arima reached for the baby’s collar and inspected it without waking him up. He pulled out a nameplate that was hanging around his neck. When he flipped it over, he read the name ‘Arimane’.

“This is the day I was sent over in this world. Maybe the next reminiscence will be…” Before Arima could even finish his sentence, his surroundings were blurred and replaced by something else.

This time, he had appeared on a peaceful meadow illuminated by three orange suns forming a triangle in the sky. He picked up a flower at his feet and sniffed it for some reason.

“{…What are you doing?}”

“Just… this smells familiar,” Arima looked around and spotted quite a large and exquisite house made out of dark wood. The walls had been covered by many bands of an unknown metal and seemed to be impenetrable as many arrays had been deployed around it.

Arima also sensed countless auras going wild far away from this place. But although it was far, they were slowly coming toward this place.

Arima threw the crimson flower on the ground and silently approached the house. He stepped through the arrays as if it was nothing. They couldn’t even detect him. He was simply so powerful that nothing could sense him anymore if he were to not lower his natural presence. Like when a human couldn’t possibly care about every insect they pass by. In this case, Arima was so ‘big’ for the array that it couldn’t possibly react to him.

“{This is the beginning of your life,}” Krynox commented when Arima took a peek through the walls with Natus.

In a really important-looking room, a woman was lying on a queen-sized bed while holding a crying baby in her arms. A man was holding her hand as he sat beside her and around them, there were many people such as maids, warriors, and priests. There were even some pets lying around and crying out loud. After some time, the woman stood up and laid the baby in a basket while everyone around watched with smiles filled with hope and joy.

Arima frowned. “What the hell? I’m not Jesus Christ. Stop with that weird stage setting already.”

“{…You were their last hope to preserve the race and the one supposed to inherit Angra Mainyu’s legacy. Of course, they would treat your birth with high consideration.}”

Arima groaned and knew with a single glance that everyone in that house was a Life Hunter and obviously, the baby that was just born was himself. Then, his eyes naturally fell on his biological mother.

He didn’t know how she looked like at all until now, but when he saw her tears and smile as she tied up the blanket around him, he couldn’t help but feel touched and warm. She was a very beautiful woman with light brown hair. Her silver eyes were obviously passed down to her son.

Arima then focused on his father with great interest. He was definitely handsome and strong-looking. It was him that Arima needed to thank for most of his facial features as well as his black hair. Not only that, but his father was also incredibly strong from normal standards. He was at least a transcendental. Not far from becoming a Guardian or Pillar level powerhouse without any blessing from a Creator.

“{Just telling you before you can even think about it. You cannot even consider intervening,}” Krynox raised his voice as the auras which were far away were getting close very fast.

“{They are destined to perish while saving you. You managed to fool time previously by making a clone of yourself and giving him Life Hunt, which led to you right now. But this is another problem.}”

“{One’s birth and death are the most important fixed points that none should ever mess with. Try to release your power the day you were born and you may cease to exist altogether.}”

Arima didn’t respond to Krynox’s words since he also knew about that fact. Although there was still a lot of knowledge that Krynox had and Arima didn’t, both of them still had most of it shared.

Arima observed his parents until his mother wrote his name on the nameplate and put it around the neck of her baby. His father then opened a gate and transferred the baby away.

“Let’s go,” Arima mumbled and accelerated the process of his death when he finally had figured it out. His body turned into dust for good afterward.

Arima experienced his third death that day.

***

When the Lawless Tome was left alone in the collapsing ‘Haven’, he used the limited amount of mana that Arima gave him and stayed active even without his caster. Technically, the Tome could even live as an independent creature if he were to be granted permission.

“Channeling the remains of mana. Beginning procedure…” The book spoke as certain runes were being written on the pages.

As the ‘Eternal Haven’ was falling apart, everyone in the universe saw the mystifying book behind a blinding light.

“[Vita Venari] (Life Hunt).”

At first, the Tome intoned some very familiar words. He used that ability to absorb the huge chunks of life force left by the Original God and Devil. He then converted that energy into a driving force for his next move.

“[Et sculpes nomen meum] (I shall engrave my name).”

“[Si vis ut non] (Whether you wish so, or not).”

The darkest of magics was being cast. In the light illuminated sky of every corner of the universe, a dark spot suddenly appeared. Everyone focused their eyes on it as if they were trying to find a way to escape the dominance of the pure white light

“[Quae fides est fides et quaerere] (Faith and loyalty are what I seek).”

“[Trans spatium et tempus] (Across time and space).”

“[Erit sanctuarium in sempiternum hic stantibus] (This sanctuary will be forever standing).”

In the deepest point of that mass of darkness, behind the glowing book, the silhouette of a grinning demon rose and brought great pressure to whoever looked at it.

That figure was the Kind Demon himself. As the magic was cast, the God of Eternal Night became the theory behind it and enhanced its effects to the limit.

At the same time, an ominous cross slowly materialized in front of the book. It looked like a Christian cross but it had six branches and there was a silver skull with blazing eyes on the center. The skull clacked its teeth as indestructible chains came out of its mouth to coil around the branches of the cross.

“[Non accipies spem] (I do not take hope).”

“[Vos can quoque oderunt me] (You can even hate me).”

“[Aut via, et divinitatem erit vester] (Either way, I’ll be your divinity).”

The Lawless Tome continued to chant and the energy released by the cross kept getting larger and larger whilst the grin of the demon behind kept widening as well.

“[Pro reverentia vitae] (Reverence for your life).”

“[Respice ad illum sollicite] (Look at it carefully).”

The Tome closed its pages and the last words of the incantation were projected outward, directly into the eyes of everyone watching.

“[Genua] (Kneel).”

That voice and single order were engraved into their mind. The meaning behind it was also given to them as if they were born with that knowledge.

“[First Black Art, Diuinitus, Crucem Genus Daemoniorum] (Divine Intervention, The Kind Demon’s Cross).”

Then, the shadow of the Kind Demon laughed and spread its arms open. The darkness expanded and completely cut off the light that was covering the world.

When every single living being existing was freed from the captivation of that light, the ‘Eternal Haven’ had already disappeared forever. The strange book they saw had vanished and the terrifying demon was nowhere to be seen.

But they all had received something else. A common thought. That thought pushed them to look up at the sky. Across every Plane composing every Reality, on every planet of every galaxy and world, odd objects started falling from the sky. They arrived at tremendous speed and crashed on the ground akin to a meteorite. Some of them even crashed on asteroids drifting in outer space.

But none of them caused any casualty and all landed in an inhabited region. The residents of each planet curiously went to see what it was.

When the dust dispersed, what laid before them was a dark cross planted in the middle of a crater. Before they knew, there were already countless chains that had been produced by the silver skull and had penetrated the ground.

No one could make a dent on the crosses. They couldn’t be pulled out either since the chains seemed to be connected to another dimension instead of the ground of their planet.

***

A certain group of people surrounded one of those crosses. A giant serpent was the first one to reach and inspect it. Then came a sort of planet-eating whale, followed by a goat and a wolf.

A black and silver haired woman descended like an angel and stopped in front of it with an unreadable expression. It certainly was Layla, and she was doing her best to understand what was happening.

“Hahahaha!” In contrast, Malum who was not far from her started laughing like a mad-man.

“Malum?” Shakti was standing at his side and tilted her head.

“That bastard,” Malum smirked. “So, that’s the real reason why you locked our memories.”

Night sighed and shook his head. Karma wryly smiled and Layla’s expression twitched.

The ‘skulled cross’ planted before them was affecting them all by forcing them to think of a single person. One and unique being.

Arimane Reigen Blade. The Kind Demon, God of Eternal Night.

This full title was being repeated over and over in their head like a subliminal message. And whether they wanted it or not, they could only recall and remember him no matter what they did.

That was the case for absolutely everyone. Not only the entirety of the five Mother Realities but also the virtually-infinite sub-realities were being invaded by those crosses.

At that single moment, nonillions of different thinking creatures were taught who was the Kind Demon and learned of what he did and could do.

All of them were thinking about a single person at the same time.