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The Harvester

Chapter 387: Philosopher Craft

"There's no way people haven't called you scary before," Arimane joked as he eyed the obsidian werewolf, completely transformed into some sort of organic machine.

To make it worse, Rakna had opted to wield a scythe against him. Something he could praise as the peculiar reach of the weapon was suited to catch bigger prey like dragons, especially appendages like tails and wings moving about.

"You look like the Grim Reaper about to go hunting," the dragon jested and instead of a verbal answer, what he got in return was the sound of air whistling and the turbine blades integrated into the werewolf's wings spinning at nearly unperceivable speeds. Silver brumes began to gush out like exhaust fumes and the Luquila Wings glowed with energy.

Arimane gradually lost his grin, noticing something very wrong. Then, in the next instant, he raised an arm in defense and widened his eyes when he saw a large wound splitting his scales. He glanced at where his nephew stood a split second ago and saw a fading afterimage.

Without missing a beat, he swung Karma to his right and was once again shocked when something parried his blade. It would have been fine if it was Sonata, but this wasn't the case. Much like he had just done, Rakna had used his forearm to stop his weapon… and Karma barely even scratched the obsidian armor.

Then, the mechanical werewolf's eyes flashed and the turbines were angled elsewhere. In the blink of an eye, the nine-tailed beast disappeared once again and Arimane felt his senses go haywire for the second time. He controlled his tail and struck the presence behind him with an added impact of black lightning.

Rakna was knocked away for a few dozen meters but otherwise remained unharmed. Instead, he flapped his wings and vanished again.

"[Accel,]" the Demon whispered and the world slowed down. He wanted to properly track Rakna's movements but before he could even try, the wound on his arm, halfway healed, flared up. He felt a burning heat and the 'time' gathered backlashed, driving blood out of his mouth.

'This…!'

"[Pārkkāta Sṭārṭasṭ.]"

Before he knew it, Arimane's time spell had been dispelled and a scythe approached from his right, dangerously close to reaping his neck off. Before that could happen, the dragon called upon a magic formation he had branded into his very soul.

Meant to bend all forms of space and dimensions to the user's will, it was worthy of being classified as True Magic. Emerald-colored energy cloaked the Kind Demon, almost behaving like smoke, and teleported him away.

Yet, Rakna promptly followed after him and Arimane clicked his tongue, using his own wings, now bolstered by the green energy, to fly up and tear holes in space. These two monsters of nature flew across the sky illuminated by the three stars, clashing more than ten times every second, and often blinking out of existence for a few seconds only to reappear with their weapons intertwined.

The auras of black, silver, and green occasionally fused and exploded together in the air.

After his transformation under the moons, Rakna had grown by at least five more meters in height but still failed to compare to the dragon's size. Yet, as they chased each other, it was as if their body didn't matter; their power and spirits manifested into the world as something far greater.

"[Terra Aeterna,]" Arimane intoned mid flight and swung Karma, unleashing a crescent-shaped attack of enormous proportions, curving inward as if seeking to swallow the world.

On the other hand, Rakna didn't even bother countering and plunged right into it, his armor not only withstanding but destabilizing the spell altogether. The armored werewolf's wings released more mist and he teleported, leaving behind the explosion of Aeterna.

Rakna appeared above the dragon and pointed three fingers at him. "[Slātta Natcattira Raja,]" his voice resounded as if synthesized from a program, but considerably faster than possible for human speech.

The spell was launched in a wave of unrelenting dark purple energy and Arimane snarled, his fangs gnashed together as smoke escaped the gaps. Then, with a roar, flames conjoined with lightning thundered out of his throat and engulfed the entirety of the Slātta Raja.

There was no contest and the rapid Dragon Breath easily broke through. Arimane huffed a cloud of smoke and focused his senses on Rakna's presence. When he felt it disappear… he had already raised his tail to grapple the werewolf's arm behind him.

"I knew I had seen those wings somewhere…" Arimane narrowed his eyes and began charging an attack similar to the werewolf's at the tip of his finger. "[Nulla,]" he intoned and thunder roared as a concentrated deluge of needle-sized Aeterna constructs assailed Rakna.

The dragon felt his tail lose grip on what it held and he lowered his arm, but to his shock, the head of the armored werewolf suddenly was in front of his eyes. Its armor had countless needles stuck to it, but all of them failed to penetrate more than a few centimeters and fell off.

"[Fist of Rupture,]" Rakna's synthetic tone spoke ominously and a fist landed right on the dragon's chest, right above his heart. Arimane winced, his scales splintering as his focal point was struck.

The Fist of Rupture reverberated in the dimensions a second later, creating a booming sound, and the dragon grunted. "Ignula," he uttered and the lightning bolt answered. It intervened instantly and repeatedly struck the armored werewolf, thousands of times a second, precipitating a tempest of lightning.

Arimane's eyes flashed green and he disappeared, re-emerging hundreds of meters away. Once he had taken his distances, Ignula returned to him and the veil of electricity it had left behind was dispersed by the blowing of those wings' turbines, revealing its victim to be undamaged.

The Kind Demon looked down at his wounds, one of the two hearts he possessed after uniquely ascending to a Primordial God healing itself after ceasing to beat. "I'm genuinely awed, kid," he said with a grin. "As usual, polearms are your thing. You certainly can wield that scythe… and your Stardust cut 'my time'," he chuckled. "I got a premature recoil of time distortion because of that. Messed up my organs a bit."

Rakna hovered silently, watching the laughing dragon.

"Your armor's… no, your entire body is the real shit too. It makes me curious how serious I should be to break it for good," Arimane smirked. "But, most importantly, those wings of yours; you got something quite nice. A Royal Luquila is said to be able to bend time and space to fly. You teleported earlier with them, and your every movement seems to deny interference to some extent."

"…"

"However, there's one more thing," the Demon tilted his head. "Every time you use your wings to teleport to me… you reappear before disappearing. Isn't that interesting?" He snorted.

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* * *

⠀

In the cabin of the Silver Sacrament Guild, the spell blades composing it were quiet, dumbfounded by the battle they were witnessing. The second that Rakna Xiorra had donned that armor, the flow had completely been thrown on its head.

Shin-Woo was quiet, thoroughly learning the kind of power the man he had been meant to save in this new life of his was. "Leader…" He spoke and glanced at his Guild Leader. "Do you perhaps know what Eternal Night is implying about his wings?"

Haschwalt Sakritt was, all things considered, rather calm while watching everything. His eyes were tranquil as the sea, observing every detail with scrutiny.

"It is a simple thing," he eventually answered. "Whenever Rakna Xiorra uses his wings, whether it be to fly or teleport, an inherent force inside of them will bend space and time to move. The Kind Demon already told you the answer; do not neglect the second part of it."

"Time…" The reincarnator realized.

"Exactly. Whenever he flaps his wings, and more blatantly when he teleports, his starting point is a step slower than the end result. It might just be a few milliseconds, but as of right now, the Beast Emperor is, without doubt, conducting time jumps into the past at a micro-scale."

Shin-Woo widened his eyes. He, more than anyone else, understood what traveling through time in an environment like the System, where the timeline was singular, involved. The difference here was that Rakna was not doing anything deserving of a paradox or a timeline reset. He was scraping the surface of time travel, allowing the World to fix such small disturbances with no ramifications.

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* * *

⠀

"No wonder it felt so destabilizing," Arimane huffed. "I would sense your wings creating a warp tunnel, but then right before it was done, you were already next to me while your past self took a few milliseconds to truly go away. Same thing when just flying about. You would start rushing at me right before your wings were done preparing the motion…"

Rakna's glowing eyes beneath the layers of obsidian narrowed slightly. Then, all his six wings were fully deployed, reaching their maximum span. The turbines slowed down visibly, but instead, the silver mist began to coil around the wings themselves while some of the feathers began rattling.

Arimane huffed and waved one arm, generating a field of lightning that suddenly blocked a swarm of black and silver feathers. The ground around him was pelted violently and each impact created a small repercussion that blew away a section of the petal rain.

"I see," the dragon snorted. "I'm not the only one learning about those wings. You are slowly discovering their full potential as well, aren't you?" He smiled and the dark lightning thundered around him.

"[…Imperial Designation,]" Rakna spoke up ominously, and on cue, several roars and howls filled the soul realm.

The animals born in the Pool of Blood so long ago trotted forward, approaching their carrier and his opponent. At the same time, the waters of the Soul Sea rippled and shadows began to surface; whales, sharks, dolphins, and other fish rose from underwater.

Originally, the Imperial Designation was a title that allowed an Emperor, or a King possessing a lesser version of it, to summon subjects with great efficiency and power. But most importantly, it allowed one to fuse with them to enhance attributes for as much as the user could resist the toll.

However, in this Soul Marble, none of these beasts had a level or a status. None of them could be considered summons. They were more akin to independent lumps of soul power, yet they were all subjects by definition. And most importantly, they had acknowledged Rakna Xiorra as their ruler.

At his command, all of them stepped in and transformed into wisps of purple fire. They filled the air like fireflies and flew toward the werewolf, merging with his body one by one.

And farther away, up on the floating island of Fray, two familiar creatures stood at the edge. Fenriu gazed at Arimane and closed his eyes, turning into another kindle of soul fire. Rexam chirped next to him in innocent excitement and imitated the Nine-Tailed Wolf.

The spiritual beings rained down on Rakna and flooded his surroundings with soul power.

⠀

❮ ◈ ❯

⠀

True Imperial Designation activated!

---

You have absorbed a Soul Remnant; Type Nine-Tailed Wolf.

You have absorbed a Soul Remnant; Type Royal Luquila.

---

You have absorbed a Soul Remnant; Type Lion.

You have absorbed a Soul Remnant; Type Elephant.

You have absorbed a Soul Remnant; Type Tiger.

…

You have absorbed a Soul Remnant; Type Carnotaurus.

You have absorbed a Soul Remnant; Type Bear.

You have absorbed a Soul Remnant; Type Alligator.

…

You have absorbed a Soul Remnant; Type Bat.

You have absorbed a Soul Remnant; Type Lizard.

You have absorbed a Soul Remnant; Type Cat.

You have absorbed a Soul Remnant; Type Snake.

…

You have absorbed a Soul Remnant; Type Fox.

You have absorbed a Soul Remnant; Type Eagle.

You have absorbed a Soul Remnant; Type Dove.

…

You have absorbed a Soul Remnant; Type Deer.

You have absorbed a Soul Remnant; Type Sheep.

…

You have absorbed a Soul Remnant; Type Shark.

You have absorbed a Soul Remnant; Type Whale.

You have absorbed a Soul Remnant; Type Jellyfish.

---

You have gained a temporary Trait; Echo Location…

You have gained a temporary Trait; Electroreception…

You have gained a temporary Trait; Extreme Shock Resistance …

…

You have gained a temporary Trait; Internal Hibernation…

You have gained a temporary Trait; Biological Immortality…

You have gained a temporary Trait; Poisonous Blood…

You have gained a temporary Trait; Beastly Strength…

…

You have gained a temporary Unranked Skill; Leap…

You have gained a temporary Unranked Skill; Sprint…

You have gained a temporary Unranked Skill; Jet Propulsion…

…

You have gained a temporary Unranked Skill; Extreme Venom Secretion…

You have gained a temporary Unranked Skill; Electricity Generation…

⠀

---

⠀

STR Increased by 489!

END Increased by 467!

SPD Increased by 546!

DEX Increased by 121!

INT Increased by 144!

⠀

Note: Attribute changes are being applied as Last Priority.

⠀

---

⠀

The Harvester's Soul has leveled up!

Your soul power has grown stronger!

Your Soul Marble has gained further independence from the World!

⠀

---

⠀

'True Imperial Designation' has evolved into 'Imperial Crown of The Harvester'!

⠀

❮ ◈ ❯

⠀

The entire landscape began to quake as Rakna became more and more attuned to an inherent facet of his soul, his body growing even bigger and his ability to control his realm improving rapidly.

Arimane reacted with an unexpectedly sympathetic expression. "I see…" He whispered and quietly invoked two red hexagrams from within his pupils. They manifested into the world and channeled the lightning into themselves.

"[Fourth Art of The Undying Night,]" the dragon whispered. "[Patibulum Tonitrui Aeterni.]"

The shadows of Nox Aeterna abruptly gained more power, gaining more space despite Rakna's will continuously 'rejecting' it from the Soul Realm's World. Thunder once again rumbled, but this time, it sounded muffled, as if drowned. However, it hauntingly reverberated everywhere.

Rakna, who was done assimilating the Soul Remnants, silently lifted Sonata and began to channel mana into it. But, as he was about to act, something froze him in his tracks.

"[Illisus,]" Arimane uttered, and in the blink of an eye, whether it be from the ground, sky, or even the horizon, solid suspended bolts of lightning filled the scenery like countless strings intertwined into cobwebs.

All of them shared one destination, however.

Silently and instantly, Rakna found himself skewered from all sides. He hung in the air like a beast chained by the heavens. Yet, he had not moved a single muscle, nor did he try to get free.

The eerie helm of the werewolf tilted downward, purple lights peering through at the source of all this lightning; the darkness. Every single shadow, on top of the already dark clouds, had these odd ropes of lightning attached to them.

It didn't matter which shadow. The ones cast by the environment, the ones cast by the body, or the ones cast by spells. It didn't matter how small or big they were; even the shadows cast by an arm onto one's torso were enough.

That's what the 'Fourth Art of The Undying Night' proclaimed, all darkness cast under the sun and moon belonged to Eternal Night; the 'Gallows of Eternal Thunder'.

"So, that level of power isn't enough, huh?" Arimane remarked. "I cranked it up by a lot too..."

As he said, the thousands of lightning strings had not managed to make significant damage. While they had all managed to pierce the armored werewolf, barely a hundred had made it past a dozen centimeters or so. At best, only five or ten had completely run through Rakna's body.

But in his current state, the werewolf couldn't even be bothered to care about such damage. With a simple tug, he broke free of the ropes, blasting them away in a shower of sparks. Without even a second of delay, all kinds of energies coalesced around him and were sucked into his claws.

⠀

"[Drown In Fleetness and Cascades of Light.]"

⠀

Rakna's artificial-like voice echoed and his armor began to shine brightly. However, its color was nothing like the usual scheme of his mana and magic. It was a pure whitish gold, swathed in a faint sky blue.

Arimane gawked. "Kid… don't tell me…"

⠀

"[I Purify. I Forgive. I Banish.]"

"[I Erode. I Baptize. I Cleanse.]"

⠀

A strange liquid began to trickle from the edges of Sonata and the werewolf's claws. It looked like water with a slight tint of cyan but reflected a pale golden light on its surface, only parted by lines of white, shimmering, and sprinkling gilded dust.

⠀

❮ ◈ ❯

⠀

You have learned a new spell— Error! Error!

The System is unable to demarcate what the Host is doing!

⠀

---

Analyzing…

---

⠀

Obsidian Star is reacting… Philosopher's Ardent Soul is reacting… Kaleidoscope Crystal Sight is reacting… Chalice of the Crystal Wolf is reacting…

Error! Unable to—

⠀

❮ ◈ ❯

⠀

As if to interrupt the System messages, Rakna spoke up, his eyes glowing purple and golden as two familiar X-shaped crosses expanded inside them, "[Philosopher Craft – Kaiyāviṉ Kaṇṇīr.]"

One drop of water trickled down the blade of the scythe and trickled from the tip. Like a small gem, it sparkled in its descent until it hit the petal of a flower. The drop splashed with a sound akin to a bell and light inundated the realm.

From belowground, water of a golden and white hue began to emerge past roots and soil, slowly submerging the Soul Marble. More of it flowed from Rakna's claws and weapon and enveloped him in a spiral.

An unfathomable radiance illuminated the world and Nox Aeterna recoiled. This time, it didn't stop at just being weakened; all of it was forced back inside Arimane who stood there with his mouth wide open.

The Soul Realm regained its tranquility, the ground flooded to the point where only the pistils were above the water, as if floating at the surface. This sacred water reflected what was above them like a perfect mirror, all while sending out light that promised warmth and salvation.

And at the moment, it reflected the twitching expression of the Eternal Night God. "Were you that annoyed at my antithesis from earlier…? It wasn't even that bad…"

⠀

* * *

⠀

A vein popped on Enya's forehead as she understood what that water was. "These bastards…" She suddenly cursed under her breath and startled many of her Guild members. It wasn't often, if ever, that you would see the Sorceress Queen use such language.

"Both of them…" The strongest witch in the System glowered. "Do they exist to torment me? Is that it? I'm sure they revel in crushing my pride into pieces, don't they?"

"Um… Master?" Bianca nervously called but was ignored.

"Creating anti-thesis spells left and right… using Origin Magic like it's nothing… breaking the rules of basic magic formation… ignoring the damn World Laws…"

Enya blathered to herself until she finally snapped and yelled at the glass screen, "That brat! How in the nine hells did he cast Union Magic out of a transmutation?! And with elements he does not possess!?"

⠀

* * *

⠀

"Light and Water…" Caer muttered with a hand on his chin. "Indeed, it represents a quasi-complete counter to Nox Aeterna. The latter was originally a union of lightning and darkness. Pure water is an insulant and light prevails over darkness. If I'm not wrong, the name for that Union Magic…"

"Tears of Gaia," Kryas provided assuredly. "One of the Church's bishops has that affinity."

"Back up a little," Allan raised his hand wryly. "Last I heard, Rak doesn't have any of those…"

"I also don't quite understand," Flavia added with a nod and looked up resentfully. "Since you keep complaining that we haven't asked you a worthy question, make yourself useful."

"This isn't one either…" Wis sighed sadly. "Listen up, girl. The way my restrictions work is that the answers I give you can only amount to one if you cannot learn it on your own. Something like this; you can ask the crazy boy later, it's thus not valid. But fine, I will tell you."

The hat grunted and glanced at the spatial layer. "Transmutation; it's the answer once again. Have you really forgotten the essence of his magic? The way he used it to 'cut' was merely effective. But that does not mean it's the only thing he can do with it. Transmutation is a process defined by the transformation of 'source' to 'result'. To turn stones into gold, water into wine; that kind of thing."

"Your friend takes it a step higher. He uses the energy produced by the core of his Obsidian Star to fuel the transmutation," Wis huffed. "Which he can use to 'disassemble', but also create something else with it. Take it this way; magic can be boiled down to mana being transmuted into an element or phenomenon. Of course, that's merely a metaphor, but that is what the boy is doing."

"He is not casting magic…" Ciel whispered in shock and realization.

"He is creating it," Azheim finished in his subordinate's stead. "Instead of imposing a phenomenon into the World with magic formations or spells, he is simply bringing it out of himself, with mana and life force as the building blocks."

"Wouldn't that mean… if he grows this power, he could become omnipotent?" Zialtra uttered with a strange expression. "Is that possible?"

"But how…?" Gaelius muttered while Old Wang was mostly silent, watching the battle. "In the first place, since earlier, we've all been saying 'transmutation', but that is a process involving formations and calculations just as much as magic. For a material being to transmute something through only his soul and body, they would need to be a living…"

"Philosopher Stone," Wis said with a yawn. "You people are slow. Didn't 'Philosopher Craft' tip you off a little bit?" He snorted. "Though, if you wish to ask me any details about it, give up. There are things even I don't know about… this is one of those."

"How surprising," Kara smiled. "For the 'Wisdom of Ariv' to admit his ignorance in something."

The hat groaned. "I know 'who' Rakna Xiorra Blade is. I can answer everything you would like to know about him, in fact. But there are beings my knowledge cannot grasp. More relevantly… the one you know as the Sage of the Crystal Mountain."

"Him again, huh?" Allan quietly hummed.

"That girl may know, on the other hand," Wis added whilst indicating at Astraea. "As great as I am, the extent of my knowledge is not comparable to Egregore. My… 'understanding' of the world only applies to the present and past and it fails in regard to what can hide from it. But the collective unconscious has no such weakness. It is a Realm intimately connected to the Spiritual Tree."

The angel of justice sighed as Wis put everyone's attention on her. "Then you also know that it is forbidden, or rather impossible for an Egregore Entity to speak of the future," she ultimately said with a huff. "But… I do know… who the Crystal Sage is. As for his goals… I'm not exactly sure," she said uneasily.

Hans stealthily raised an eyebrow, noticing something quite odd about her tone.

"Something will happen to the System in the near future," Astraea stated more firmly. "It will affect the whole of Existence at large. Egregore has no record of its cause as if it had been erased. But all of us know for a fact; that something was made and a wish was granted."

"…" Everyone fell silent in either confusion or contemplation at her words.

"A wish, is it?" Wis mused aloud with an amused voice. "How refreshing. Curiosity is a luxury I have not experienced in a long while," he chuckled. "That aside…" He hopped atop Flavia's head, much to her annoyance, and looked at the glass screen. "There isn't much time left."

"What do you mean?"

"Arimane Reigen Blade is reaching a boiling point… Soon, 'they' will intervene."

⠀

* * *

⠀

"Hahahaha!" Arimane laughed as he flew back, his lightning firing in every direction. Tears of Gaia surged from the ground and the now-saturated rivers of the Soul Marble, destroying them on every occasion.

Rakna chased after him, his wings releasing a trail of silver as he teleported forward, defying the rules of time to swing his scythe at the dragon's neck. Karma came up to parry it but Sonata began to release dark purple energy, miniature shards of obsidian crepitating along the edge.

"[Slātta Natcattira Raja – Piḷēṭ Pāṇi,]" the werewolf emotionlessly uttered and a sickle-shaped wave of dark purple star energy split the land, ultimately splashing into the water below.

"[Fifth Art of The Undying Night,]" Arimane chanted as he emerged from the attack with a grin on his face. "[Alta Nocte Oblivionis.]" Waves of crimson-lined shadows promptly poured out from the dragon's body, pouring down and gradually pooling over the water, obfuscating its light.

The Fifth Art was a force of corruption like none other. To prove it, Rakna had already lost control over the parts of his Soul Marble that had been covered by it.

"[Crescent of a Falling Star,]" the perk of Sonata was launched at the dragon, but before it could get close, an amalgam of electrified shadows roughly resembling a hand burst from the corrupted darkness. It grabbed the attack in a second and smothered it to nothingness, before scattering like sand and dropping back to the sea of shadows.

Narrowing his eyes, Rakna decided to dash back to a safe distance, landing and blasting a chunk of water into the air.

"Alta Nocte is essentially my playing field," Arimane said with a cackle. "Furthermore…"

Out of nowhere, ropes of lightning shot out from within the sea of darkness, swarming the armored werewolf whose wings shone as he weaved around all of them in a blur. Both his body and senses had been heightened to unbelievable levels after absorbing the Soul Remnants. None of this would be able to hit him unless he allowed it to.

"All of my Undying Night Arts are Eternal-Cast," the dragon stated candidly. "Whether it be the Third, Fourth, or Fifth, they won't stop unless I wish so."

Rakna remained unresponsive as he slashed the 'Gallows of Thunder' with Sonata. His tails fanned out and each of them began to charge a granulated orb at their tip. Within less than a second, nine different Slātta Raja were fired, neutralizing the Fourth Art and exploding in the middle Fifth, only dispersing a small chunk of it before it was clogged within a second.

With a quiet growl, Rakna landed back in the water and extended his free hand outward. Obsidian energy coalesced into the shape of a trident and the 'Tears of Gaia' at his feet fused with it.

The sound of a hammer echoed and a black-gold trident landed in his palm, "[Gaia's Neptunia.]

"Little bastard…" Arimane muttered, but despite his words, his grin widened. "You can intercede your Origin Magic through transmutation."

The werewolf hoisted the weapon and hurled it at the sky. The trident shattered midair and called upon it pure white clouds accentuated by cyan highlights. Silently and peacefully, rain began to fall and splatter all over the Soul Marble.

Every time a drop of water landed in the darkness, the latter would recede briefly. At this rate, the rain would eventually gain the upper hand and completely deny Nox Aeterna once again.

Arimane chuckled and flicked his finger upward. The Fifth Art responded to his will and the dark sea began to undulate, small spots protruding at the surface. Then, a wisp of shadow collided with one of the raindrops. A second one followed, a third, a fourth; and after some time, an inverted rain of shadowy tendrils was perfectly mirroring the crystalline rain of Neptunia.

If it bothered Rakna, he didn't show it. Instead, the werewolf took it in stride and instead whirled his scythe, purple flames coming out of it. In the blink of an eye, the fiery soul power began to form a specific shape with 14 dots as the central points; a constellation.

Rakna stopped spinning his weapon and elevated the scythe with both hands as if the Reaper was about to pass judgment. "[Star Monarch – Beast of Gaia – Cetus,]" he intoned and hacked the formed constellation with Sonata. He didn't stop the momentum until his blade was planted in the ground muddied by the water.

For a brief second, nothing happened, but a quaking soon disrupted the ongoing battle between the Tears of Gaia and Nox Aeterna. The water rippled outward from where the scythe was and the darkness flowing from the Kind Demon slowed.

A low and booming cry that could only originate from a titanic creature resounded and the ground began to quake even more. A vortex then suddenly formed in front of Rakna, indicating that a hole had appeared below and through which the water was escaping.

Another cry reverberated loudly and a giant figure brusquely burst from underground, splashing water everywhere at the same time. Straightaway, it was easily confirmed to be even bigger than Arimane, with a body that reached a length double the dragon's height.

It had sky blue and azure skin with patches of scales, a serpent-like physique, fins across its spine and tail that were translucent like water, red fur over its eyes and under its chin like facial hair, a white belly marked by parallel lines and reminiscent of a whale, and a singular pair of limbs with padded claws at the front of its body.

Its head was almost draconic at first sight, but with a slightly flatter skull and longer fangs, and it also seemed to be flying in the air with no observable method. White and golden water streams floated around it like halos and the rain falling from the sky halted above it as if frozen in time.

The creature opened its mouth and spoke up clamorously, "I am Cetus, Son of Ceto, Successor of Gaia's Sea, Constellation of The Dragon Whale. Ô God of The Eternal Night, I shall sink your storm today."

The voice filled with divinity and power made the world shudder and Arimane laughed, "This is quite the presence for a mythical beast with no proper history," he snorted. "But… that's not really correct, is it? You are a successor of the Sea Domain, immortalized by a constellation named after your mother. You are a true 'Beast of Gaia' given life by Egregore."

Cetus scoffed and the rain began to fall harder, pushing back its warped reflection. The aquatic god glanced at Rakna with its vibrant green eyes. "Lord Monarch, I am infinitely grateful that you granted me a chance to invoke my true form in the Living Realm. I shall not disappoint."

The werewolf nodded silently and spread his wings, the turbines hummed and in the next instant, he had teleported atop the large whale dragon's head. He crouched and placed his hand down, his eyes glowing. Without delay, purple flames wrapped around Cetus' body and swiftly solidified into clear shapes until they were encased in a shell of obsidian.

Just like that, a partial armor had appeared on the Star Entity, protecting its vital areas and making it look that much more menacing.

"Let's go," Rakna spoke synthetically and the summoned constellation blinked in surprise before grinning enthusiastically.

"My pleasure," Cetus replied and incited by his power, dozens of cyclones began to form around them, increasing the humidity in the air even more and spurring the rain to double in density.

Arimane squinted his eyes and released an even stronger aura than before. Speedily, his Fifth Art grew in power and Nox Aeterna began pushing back against Cetus' Domain in full. Lightning crept from within the shadows and crawled over the dragon as he smirked.

"Well… I ought to match expectations," the Demon stretched his wings and arms, twirling Karma in his grip. "Ignula, if you will," he uttered and the small bolt of lightning hummed, answering the call and obediently plunging right into the sea of darkness.

Although Ignula was able to target physically manifested spells, Cetus was something different altogether. As a creature born from Egregore and called upon by Rakna, its creation point was not something so easily targetable.

Egregore Entities are not created by the collective unconscious itself. They are created by all the thoughts and perceptions that feed their existence within it. In other words, for Ignula to defeat a being like that, the spell would need to destroy every source of such thoughts.

Every single sentient lifeform that has provided Egregore with the knowledge of 'Cetus', across all Planes and Realities, would need to be eradicated. Not only would that require infinite amounts of time and power, but it would inevitably lead to a genocide of inconceivable scale.

However, it didn't mean the Original Bolt was hopeless in such a situation. Ignula was not simply the first; it was the precursor and originator. Its existence itself was divine, and when exposed to its 'descendants', it became their core; the Sovereign of Lightning.

A literal typhoon of red and black lightning thundered into existence, forcing Cetus to raise a large screen of water to shield himself. Dark clouds reappeared in the sky and swiveled, while lightning began to be endlessly siphoned into the shadows where Ignula had disappeared.

After what felt like an eternity, something peeked out from the Fifth Art. The deluge of lightning promptly scattered like leaves in the wind and a draconic head made out of solid lightning surfaced from the darkness.

A long body of black scales and red skin slowly came out and floated upward, coiling around itself and letting out a roar that stimulated dying sparks to life. This new creature, with white fur along its back, was a flawless recreation of an eastern dragon, perfectly mirroring Cetus' half-liquid body with a half-electric one.

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"[Scito Initium] (Know of The Beginning)."

"[Disce Creaturae] (Learn of The Creation)."

"[Oblivisci Finis] (Forget of The End)."

⠀

"[Ignula Auctor,]" Arimane whispered with a smile, and the reborn Ignula roared.

"…an Artificial Deity," Cetus remarked somberly. "As expected of you, Kind Demon. Your spells themselves are capable of becoming 'Gods' separate from you."

"You flatter me," the dragon joked and flapped his wings, rising to match the stature of Ignula, just a few steps behind. "So, what do you say? Do you think you can compete?"

The Star Entity harrumphed and the Tears of Gaia began to shimmer around him like millions of precious stones. "Lord Monarch is providing me with all the energy I could ever need. I would die of shame if I failed to accomplish my duty."

Arimane only laughed in response and Cetus' entire body was subsequently shrouded in pristine water, the large mass of liquid forming a rough extension of the draconic whale. Ignula seemed to refuse being outplayed and a storm of lighting similar to a swarm of thorns swallowed it.

The two creatures born of magic faced off silently for a moment and Cetus was the first to break it off. With a muted thrum of power that traversed the waters, a shockwave shook the Soul Marble as he rushed forward with a heavy momentum, both too fast and fierce for most mortals to bear.

In the blink of an eye, the Star Entity collided with Ignula, causing a large discharge of Aeter that was quickly drowned by Gaia's Sea. The lightning dragon's serpentine body looped as if to shield itself and its head stuck out, concentrating a large amount of energy inside its open mouth.

Alongside a clap of thunder, Ignula roared and a torrent of black and red lightning shot out from its maws, striking Cetus at point-blank distance. The impact alone caused cracks to appear in the air, denoting that Rakna's Soul Marble was having a hard time withstanding the strain.

"Pitiful," Cetus' voice scoffed as his claw ripped through the lighting breath and grasped Ignula's neck, shutting down the attack. "Without your true ability, you are not my match," the dragon whale uttered and still cloaked in water, slammed the Third Art's incarnation into the ground.

The ground quaked violently, soil flying into the air and revealing broken patches of black crystal in the Soul Realm's underground. Ignula roared and in a flash of crimson light, disappeared out of the crater created by its own body.

It reappeared up in the air, at the level where the raindrops of Neptunia fought back against the inverted mirror of the Fifth Art. With the lightning coming from below, Ignula conjured hundreds of static waves of Aeter in the shape of crescent moons.

Cetus looked up impassively, his emerald eyes narrowing, and glanced at Arimane who was merely watching with crossed arms, a grin on his face.

"If you are not going to do anything…" The Star Entity hummed and controlled the water around him, altering its composition and forming large bubbles. At the same time, Ignula launched half of the waves of lightning and Cetus huffed.

The bubbles methodically shifted places and, accompanied by soft flopping sounds, each crescent of Aeter was gobbled, put into a sort of stasis inside of the bubbles. Cetus harrumphed and with a mental command, his constructs were thrown back at the lightning dragon.

Ignula let out a startled hum right before the bubbles reached it and swallowed the remaining half of the Aeterna spells. When the spells bumped into each other, all of them detonated at once.

In the wake of the explosions, Ignula was knocked away and Cetus flew up, a geyser rising around him at the same time. The behemothic creature struck the lightning dragon and imprisoned it in a translucent orb.

"I will show you what a true Dragon Breath is like," Cetus declared and aligned himself so that both Ignula and Arimane were in his direct line of sight. Slowly, he opened his mouth and began to breathe in.

The air twisted as if compelled to converge toward the Egregore Entity. The rain, the black petals, the water, and even the lightning were swept in. Each one disintegrated into particles of pure mana that amassed at the back of Cetus' throat.

The concentration of energy alone further destabilized the Soul Marble and fissures opened along the ground, swallowing almost the entirety of the water previously accumulated. As for the breath of Cetus, the mana had already been fully converted into a ball of golden and sky-blue fire.

'This is a Primal Dragon Breath,' Arimane thought as he watched it all. 'The 'Dragon Whale' was not an embellishment,' he grinned lightly but then narrowed his eyes. 'But most importantly…' He stared at the Star Entity and spotted no sign of Rakna's presence.

The Demon looked around and searched cautiously, his eyes alight with a red hexagram. 'Where is the kid…? It shouldn't be this easy to hide from my senses. Stealth? Another dimension? Or both? No, that shouldn't be enough… even with Sloth. He's not a Nephilim yet,' he pondered.

"Regardless… I suppose I should respond in kind," Arimane grinned and lightning crackled over his scales whilst moving to his mouth. The sea of shadows followed and a few elements of the Soul Marble were forcefully extracted as well.

The Breath of a Pure-Blooded Dragon was an ability packed with Existentiality. Dragons in general are a race that benefits from inherent authority over the World. They possess unparalleled control over mana, and each of their actions generates immense vigor.

When a dragon charges their Breath, they do so by dominating all forms of energy. A Dragon Breath is an authority of fire; a Rule of the World. It sucks in both internal and external forces and aggressively combusts them.

On one side, Cetus produced gold and blue flames that flowed like water, and on the other, Arimane wielded dark flames, sharp and thunderous, bathed in crimson light.

Of the two, the Star Entity was the first to finish. He first closed his mouth and snarled as if holding back something before roaring with all his strength. A raging torrent of power that could only be described as a tsunami set ablaze consumed the sky. It advanced voraciously and swallowed Ignula in the process, dangerously descending toward the land.

Arimane tightened his jaws and clamped down on the flames as well. His lips arched into a grin and a flash of light crossed his eyes before he roared at the sky, the black flames meeting the golden ones at the halfway point.

If one would expect an explosion or a shockwave; there wasn't anything of the sort. When the two colors collided, the flames splashed outward and in the blink of an eye, the Soul Marble was split apart.

At the exact height of the collision, a perfectly orbitual fissure in the realm's fabric was torn, erasing the horizon to reveal the previously crystallized canyon of the spatial layer. The clouds of Neptunia were snapped out of existence and the star triad flickered along with the nine moons.

The ground where the field of the flower lay was impacted by an invisible and unperceivable force and the Fifth Undying Art was flattened as if a giant object had fallen upon it. The darkness thinned down and ultimately scattered after reaching its breaking point.

And from its remains, unnoticed, a singular cloud of shadows arose and melded into the shape of a familiar armored werewolf. Rakna exited Enkata, the Third Layer of Enthymio relinquishing his real body from the Dark Dimension.

Silently, he extended both arms forward and pointed his palms at Arimane. His tails stretched from his back and pointed in the same direction; charging a granulated orb of energy.

Arimane widened his eyes in amazement as he spotted him from the corner of his eyes. 'There's no way… kid, did you seriously hide inside the shadows of my own spell?' The idea alone was enough to make him burst out laughing had it not been for him currently holding back Cetus' Breath. But to see it actualized? That was another level of hilarity.

'Well, damn, he got me,' Arimane thought and alternated between his nephew and the flames above him. 'I don't know what the kid is doing, but that orb feels completely different from the others. I don't think I can deal with it whilst keeping Cetus at bay at the same time. Not to mention, the combined might of our Breaths dispelled both my Fifth and Third Arts…'

The dragon stifled another chuckle while Rakna began to feed several types of energy to his spell on top of star energy. The way his tails were converging power into the orb drastically resembled the activation of the Tailed Pearl, but the werewolf did not wish to use that particular skill here.

He wasn't sure about other Nine-Tailed Beasts but his Tailed Pearl was one that ate everything he had left in order to be cast. His mana, his stamina, his lunar energy, his soul power… in terms of ultimate resort, it was only a step behind 'The Wolf Shall Have the Last Laugh'.

Using it would bring unrelenting destruction, but he knew for a fact it wouldn't be enough to defeat his uncle despite its power. So, exhausting himself was out of the question.

In that case, it only left him with one last solution. With the Soul Remnants bolstering his 'vessel', he used Founding Intuition and Fenriu's inborn understanding to repurpose it.

"[Unity Craft…]" Rakna intoned chillingly. "[Slāṭṭar Muttu] (Pearl of Slaughter)."

The Pearl was shot with a resounding boom and sensing the danger, Arimane could only laugh out loud as he stopped powering his Dragon Breath and opted to swing Karma. Aeter thundered on the silver blade as it slashed the remodeled Nirvana Skill.

Then, like the frames of a video, the next instant welcomed the sight of Cetus' flames striking the ground where Arimane stood and afterward, the Pearl of Slaughter imploded, manifesting a dome of sheer destruction that shattered the Soul Marble's terrain with its discharge alone, only leaving the sky behind as it continued to crumble like pieces of glass.

⠀

* * *

⠀

"Holy…!" Allan cussed as he focused on maintaining his balance, holding Marie in his arms as the entirety of the Arena shook. The viewing panels were full of cracks and glitching out endlessly as they displayed the clash happening within the stage.

"This is getting slightly out of hand," Kryas commented calmly. He stood up and swiped his hand, grabbing an object out of thin air. It was a small white cube with silver inscriptions on it. He tossed the item at the splintered glass and watched as it caused waves on its surface.

Almost instantly, the tremors declined and the cracks stopped growing, indicating that the spatial layer had been reinforced even more, safely secluded from the Arena.

"Couldn't you have done that earlier?" Zialtra complained.

"I didn't expect this battle to reach this level of severity," the Pavilion President replied flatly.

Meanwhile, Nyx, among others, had their eyes glued to what could still be seen of the now fading aftermath of both Cetus' and Rakna's last attacks.

The Night Goddess breathed in, "It's over..."

"Do you mean the Kind Demon was defeated?" Azheim asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No…" She sighed and everyone saw the figure of a dragon reappear. "He's about to Ascend."

As the words left her mouth, they barely got a glimpse of Arimane before the screen suddenly shut down out of the blue, but not before they noticed three unknown silhouettes zooming by.

⠀

* * *

⠀

"Hah…" Rakna exhaled tiredly, his armor receding and reverting his body back to normal. However, despite his tiredness, he stubbornly maintained the last bits of his Soul Marble in the sky, which only had five full moons still in sight aside from his stars. He still needed his berserk state.

Because he knew for a fact that this was not over…

"Hahahaha! I didn't expect to get injured so badly in this fight," Arimane's voice boisterously sounded from a giant crater full of water, his form soaring from the center.

At the same time, Cetus dropped from the sky and landed heavily next to its summoner. "…I have bad news, Lord Monarch. Eternal Night's Existentiality is at its peak. At this rate--"

"Keep it," Rakna interrupted the Star Entity and straightened himself. "The old man knows better than us… and he's not one to play around with lives meaninglessly. In other words, he's expecting something or someone to stop him without fail. And that is obviously not me."

"Heh," Arimane snickered as he heard him. "O ye of too much faith," he joked. "Really, kid, even if I am admittedly perfect, you shouldn't trust me that mu—!"

A grotesque noise stopped him from continuing his sentence; a noise produced by a second pair of horns abruptly sprouting from his head. His irises doubled in number in each of his eyes and a malicious aura that made both Cetus and Rakna hunch in cold sweat lashed out of him.

Strange and ominous sounds began to echo from inside the dragon's body but before it could turn into something worse, a spatial interference occurred nearby and three figures stepped in.

Faster than Rakna could see, a gray bandage that appeared infinitely long shot out of nowhere and wrapped around Arimane, binding his body and discontinuing whatever transformation was going to happen dead on its tracks.

The dragon grunted before chuckling gutturally. "Finally…" He muttered as three individuals stood around him in a triangle, callously scrutinizing him like jailers. "Took your sweet time, you damn spirits…" Arimane smirked. "Nice to meet you, Espectros."

Took a while to re-proofread this one. It's normal that it took me half an hour to post, lol.

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