Life Hunter

Chapter 177: ''You're getting on my nerves.''

Before he knew it, Fafnir had his sword stuck in place. Just in front of the woman he wanted to slay, a dragon had caught his sword barehanded. He tried to pull it back but was shocked to see he couldn't even move it.

His eyes twitched and he let go of the sword before retreating. Arima clenched the blade and it broke into pieces instantly. Fafnir's eyes widened as the fragments of the sword turned into rays which returned inside his 'Vault'.

"Who am I facing?" The golden dragon was more than cautious now. He had seen this dragon attack him in Fantasia but he couldn't determine his strength accurately. He just knew that a powerful magic had displaced him.

But right now, he had noticed that this dragon was strong, incredibly strong. If he had to compare him to the strange girl, he would be three, no, maybe even five times stronger.

"Arimane R. Blade," Arima answered and waved his hand. Karma who was far away leaped and transformed into a beam of black-red light. She stopped in Arima's hand and became a very large katana. Fafnir frowned.

"I am the Kind Demon," Arima complemented and released his killing intent.

"Slaughter intent The mentality to be able to kill all life in the world," Fafnir's eyes widened. He then laughed. "Slaughter intent holders are always blood-thirsty freaks. Why would you kill me? I'm the same kind as you."

Arima's eyes became cold. "I'm only blood-thirsty for those who deserve it. Now," he deployed his wings and called Superore in his left hand. Fafnir's expression changed when he saw the gun. He knew that weapon was not as simple as it looked. "I'll repeat; I dare you to say it again."

Fafnir raised an eyebrow and glanced at Layla. "Why not," he shrugged. "I will kill that woman."

Arima grinned. "Nice, you deserve it."

The moment he said that Superore was fired at max power. A black-blue wave swept over Fafnir and discharged. Arima's eyes sharpened and he turned around. He swung Karma to clash with a golden claymore. The shockwave spread and forced Layla to retreat toward Deva.

"Oh?" Fafnir exclaimed in surprise as he was facing Arima through their crossed swords. "You managed to react to my transfer. But you're not like that girl, how long will you be able to do it?" He said and transferred again. He reappeared behind Arima without any delay and swung his sword again. But it was blocked by Arima's tail.

"Let me tell you something you failed to realize," Arima spoke as he looked over his shoulder. "My body is far stronger than yours."

Fafnir shuddered and tried to move away but his sword snapped in half as it was cut by Karma. The tip of the katana even scratched the surface of his scales with a loud screeching sound. The golden dragon panicked and transferred away again.

He looked at his broken sword then realized it wasn't broken but literally cut. "What is that weapon?" He asked with a strange tone. "This claymore was at least a hundred times tougher than what you broke earlier."

Arima smirked and shouldered Karma. "My weapon is the one that'll kill you. It's not Gram but it'll do the job."

Fafnir snorted. "I see," he threw away his sword and back fisted an invisible wall behind him. The place struck lighted up with a golden color and numerous circles and runes spread. Arima's pupils flashed as he read the runes.

"Those runes" He muttered and promptly flapped his wings to rush toward Fafnir.

"So, you recognize it," the latter laughed. "Sadly, it's too late." His hand entered the 'Vault' and dragged something out of it. A golden light illuminated space and Arima groaned.

Fafnir transferred during the next second and the golden light reappeared just behind him. He shot with Superore over his shoulder and then lifted his sword to meet Fafnir's new weapon. The blade of that weapon glimmered gold for a few seconds then died down.

"[Excalibur]," Fafnir intoned and one of the jewels on the sword flashed for a second. It was actually matching with Karma and even winning over her.

"{Hey, Karma,}" Arima called. "{You were stuck at the lower for a moment now. Wanna try?}" He inquired and Karma laughed.

"{Of course! I was so frustrated when you didn't do it against the Tra,}" she responded enthusiastically.

"{Sorry, I kinda forgot,}" Arima said and Karma fell silent.

Fafnir used his Manifestation again but this time, he reappeared miles above Arima. He raised his sword and golden flames shrouded the blade. He swiftly swung it and a giant pillar of golden fire fell on Arima. The black dragon whirled his gun and pointed it upward.

"[Veluta aeim, quifa quifa]."

"[Samda maa kaav]."

Intricate azure drops appeared and floated around Arima like an inversed rain.

"[Magna Blast, Exist]."

The two barrels shined with a green-blue color and a pillar of the same colors clashed with Fafnir's attack. The discharge filled space for hundreds of miles. Arima put Superore away temporarily and gripped Karma.

"[Primum, Secundum, Tertium Gaudete] (First, Second, Third - Break)," he chanted and undid the three seals on Karma which he hadn't released for a long time now.

Karma's aura spread far and wide. Fafnir was shocked as he felt the intent coming from the sword.

'What the hell is this? How can a weapon release such intent on its own?'

Arima breathed in and took an Iai stance. Thunder roared even if the sound shouldn't be able to and turned the area into a storm of black lightning. It gathered around Karma and was ready to be fired.

"[Aeterna] (Eternal Night)," Arima chanted and swung his katana. The dark wave of energy cut through the remnants of the previous explosion at great speed and reached Fafnir before he even could react. He blocked most of the explosion with Excalibur but he had to transfer away in the end before he got injured.

"This guy and his weapon are both too scary" Fafnir complained and summoned another 'Excalibur' from his Vault. He teleported near Arima and swung both of his swords at him.

"My Vault doesn't only allow me to store weapons. I also can replicate them at will," Fafnir stated as ten more legendary swords appeared behind him and rocketed toward Arima. "I'll take yours when I kill you. Even if it's not gold, it shall become a terrifying weapon in my hands."

Arima snickered and destroyed the flying swords in one swing and concentrated on Fafnir again. Every time he swung Karma at him, lightning would come out. It was the same for the golden dragon; the swords he wielded were constantly coated with fire.

Normally, this fight should've been dominated by Arima but things were not happening this way because of Fafnir's innate ability. Even if Arima was overwhelmingly strong and fast, a real 'instantaneous' teleportation was something quite hard to deal with.

With instantaneous displacement, you could see your opponent's blade coming at you but the moment it is about to touch your sword, the attack could land on your back.

This was precisely what was happening to Arima. Fafnir took advantage of his power to push Arima's senses and mind to the limits.

"You're getting on my nerves," Arima grumbled as he released his aura. "Let's see if you can escape him," he said and conjured 'Aeterna' once more. Fafnir was forced to retreat. He looked back at Arima and frowned.

"I noticed. You can only transfer once every 3 seconds," Arima revealed as a black and white book formed in his hand.

"[Third Destruction Art, Pars impios]," he chanted and the book turned into particles. In the next instant, Fafnir felt his body stiffen strangely.

Before he knew, he couldn't even move anymore nor could he use his magic. 'What is this?' He was greatly confused. He couldn't even transfer anymore. He was about to call a certain artifact in his 'Vault' but before he managed to do that, he coughed blood and suffered immense pain as something pierced his body.

He looked down with disbelieving eyes. A weird metal stake was sticking out in the middle of his chest. Before he could grasp what was going on, the stake vanished and he recovered control over his body. But he was left with a blatant hole on his chest.

"So, the Tome chose to attack, huh?" Arima smirked. He didn't think Fafnir would die with this but he had discovered something interesting. Right where the dragon's heart should be, there was a large piece of cursed gold.

"The Nibelungen Gold. So, he ingested it after all" Arima muttered. He snorted and fired Superore. The black-blue wave made its way toward Fafnir but disappeared on the way.

Arima scowled as he saw the golden dragon glaring at him with bloodshot eyes. Fafnir's aura abruptly became stronger and a lot more chaotic.

"You hit the jackpot," he snarled. Countless golden lights flickered around him. At least half of them went inside his body. The dragon started healing at tremendous speed while shining with a blinding golden light.

His body became even bigger than before and reached an incredible height of five hundred meters. The Excaliburs he had in his hands changed in consequence too.

"You shouldn't have touched my gold!" He shouted and disappeared.

Arima predicted it and thought that he had reacted fast enough but he was struck by the golden swords before he could turn his head. His eyes widened as he was flung away toward one of the nearby planets. He wasn't able to recover from the momentum and entered the atmosphere

'Fuck. Scram!' He shouted in his mind and teleported away every inhabitant of the planet somewhere else before he crashed like a meteorite.

By just falling there, he had destroyed at least a third of the whole planet. When he stood up, a golden light flashed and he already had to defend against two giant swords. The two dragons flattened the planet and went underground as they combatted.

"[Agnitio Vultus Unus Mille] (One Thousand Parade)!" In the middle of that, Arima chanted his strengthening magic and grew for around twenty meters as his muscles contracted.

The two dragons started fighting underground as if the earth and stone were nothing. They would swing their weapons and disintegrate matter to hit the other.

Arima was a bit short in strength so he pushed his body to the 200% limit.

"{What's wrong with this guy? His strength suddenly escalated,}" Night couldn't help but ask.

"I have no fucking idea!" Arima reached the core of the planet along with Fafnir and they both started fighting in the middle of the magma.

"[Fourth Destruction Art, Vashta Nerada]," he chanted and the shadows consumed Fafnir's figure and started eating his aura and magic. It stalled him but it was being dispelled very quickly.

"[Third Blue Art, Fragor Magnus]," Arima pointed the tip of his sword at Fafnir and the red stone created by his Art swelled into a larger fireball and was fired at his opponent.

Fafnir broke free from the shadows at the same time and crossed his swords. Golden flames gathered around him and then clashed with the Third Blue Art.

An explosion occurred that destroyed the whole planet from the inside. The small and big debris alike became asteroids that would most likely fall on some stars in the future.

But, even after that, the two dragons didn't stop at all.

You could see a ray of lightning getting chased by a golden light that would blink every five seconds and a planet had just been annihilated because of those 'lights'.