184. “What a joke…”
Fafnir's weapons started flying everywhere. The cannons he had summoned kept firing without rest and every single blade attacked Arima and Layla without even stopping a single second. Even the Bell of Mictlan was ringing uncontrollably. It seemed that Fafnir didn't care about his own health anymore.
Because of the bell's influence, almost every magic was being halted during its activation. But it didn't matter for Arima and Layla. They simply used their bodies to fend off every weapon and would launch a fire breath together from time to time.
Thanks to the Resonance, both of them went through a significant increase in strength and their teamwork was also as perfect as you could expect it. It felt like they were a single person with two different bodies. Even Arima's doppelgangers couldn't be more coordinated than that.
The timing of their attacks was always on point. If any of them had to block one of the giant weapons, he would catch it directly and stop it in its advance. He would then tilt it sideways for the other to blow it away. Afterward, the one who was holding the weapon previously would take care of the weapons behind the other.
It was happening with so much accuracy and speed that you could barely see it. It continuously happened and even Fafnir was getting a headache from witnessing all of it. After only a few minutes, both Arima and Layla had already Fafnir in their range.
"Damnit," Fafnir clicked his tongue and waved his hand. All of his shields materialized to protect him like an impenetrable carapace. Flames then erupted from gaps between the shields and generated an explosion that blew the dragons away. But it was only for a single second and the two helped each other to move out of the area.
They then inhaled and spat out a huge wave of dark-silver fire that clashed with Fafnir's golden flames. The three dragons roared and an even bigger explosion shrouded the void and several planets and stars in the vicinity.
Arima and Layla were forced to retreat but Fafnir's defense also broke. The gilded dragon's eyes flashed with anger and he teleported just behind Layla. He raised Excalibur and swung it vertically at incredible speed.
But Layla didn't even turn around as his sword was blocked by black claws. Arima smirked and kicked Fafnir's weapon away. He then took a stance and taunted his opponent while Layla joined him.
Fafnir's expression twitched. He dropped his swords and also prepared for a barehanded fight. Keeping his weapons would be a mistake considering the extreme difference in size.
Layla's eyes flashed and it was the signal for Arima to move out. He flapped his wings and reached the gilded dragon's neck in a second. Fafnir snorted. He tilted his head to the side and dodged the blow. He then used his tail to strike Arima who blocked it with a side guard.
Layla arrived just after and tried to hit the dragon's temple but Fafnir easily blocked her with his palm. Arima followed and harnessed all of his strength to deflect Fafnir's tail with one punch.
Fafnir's eyes widened and he flapped his wings to swirl. He used the momentum to kick Layla and punch Arima. The former escaped as if she knew it was going to happen and the latter met the golden dragon's punch with his own.
The two surprisingly canceled each other. Fafnir's eyes narrowed and he continued to assault the 'small' dragon in front of him. But each one of his moves got countered by the same exact one.
“[Quod Oculi Domini] (The Eyes of the Lord),” Arima intoned as he copied Fafnir’s every move to very last detail.
Meanwhile, Layla kept bothering the gilded dragon as she flew around and hit him from time to time when he expected it the least. She managed to land a few blows but since most of them barely did any damage, Fafnir came to ignore her. Arima smirked when he saw that and continued his little 'game' for a minute before suddenly charging toward Fafnir.
He also curved slightly and positioned himself near the giant dragon's right side. Fafnir frowned and tried to teleport away but his pupils shook when he noticed that he couldn’t do it. He had forgotten about it; about the girl who could restrain his movements.
In the end, Arima reached his intended target and attacked Fafnir's right side, more specifically, his arm and ribs. The gilded dragon was confused but he still prepared to fight back. But when he tried to move, his muscles suddenly contracted and immobilized him. Fafnir's expression displayed how stunned he was as Arima violently pounded his right side.
He did his best to protect himself but his entire right side was numb and he couldn't move it as he wanted. He then recalled where Lanya had concentrated her attacks; solely on his right half. He rolled his eyes at Layla to see her grinning at him.
He glared at her but was soon forced to recede as his scales cracked and allowed his blood to gush out. This couldn’t continue. He was about to stop the Bell of Mictlan and invoke his magic Arima abruptly augmented his strength above its limits again.
He arrived right in front of Fafnir's torso and gazed at the place where he had seen the cursed gold before. "[Terminus Confractus, CD] (400)." Arima's body cried in pain. He reared his fist until his waist and punched with all of his strength.
"[Fourth White Art, Lower-Layer, Imago Autem Bunraku] (Strings of Bunraku)," he chanted at the same time and glimmering white strings infiltrated Fafnir's body through his injuries.
The gilded dragon vomited blood that darkened his shining scales and was sent flying toward a near planet. He crashed in the ocean and a circular tide was created with him as the source.
Fafnir stood up in rage but his body abruptly stiffened as he was about to fly off. He couldn't do anything to prevent his body from falling backward.
"What…" He was both scared and thunderstruck. The water came back just after and swept over him. "What did you do?!" He shouted the moment he saw Arima coming down. The latter landed on Fafnir's body and exhaled as he sat down.
He grabbed something from his spatial storage and threw it in the air. It was giant candy that he swallowed in one bite. Layla chuckled as she returned to her human form. Arima also saw his body reverting to how it was a moment ago. They had ended the resonance.
Fafnir's expression fell as this meant only one thing. They had deemed this fight to be over. He was overwhelmed with both shame and anger. He attempted to summon his weapons but they didn't come to him. In fact, he could even see some of them falling on the planet like meteorites. They had lost their owner and were now drifting in space aimlessly.
Arima looked up with difficulty. Just this small movement brought him great pain. Layla worriedly looked at him and tried to heal him as much as she could.
"…there's a great treasure floating in the void," he muttered. "I'm sure people will fight for it," he added and looked at Fafnir with a smile. "Even you."
The gilded dragon scoffed and flexed his muscles. His body trembled a little but he failed to move.
"You're wasting your time. You were weak enough so I invaded your internal system with the 'Strings of Bunraku'. Normally, I should be able to even control you. But you're way too big for that. Restraining your movements and magic circuits was my limit," Arima said and Fafnir dropped his head on the sea-floor.
"Are you telling me it's over?"
"No," Arima said. "The Nibelungen Gold will always make you stronger every time you die as long as you have enough pride and greed," he stated. "So, I will, of course, take out the gold from your body and seal it so it can never be used again."
Fafnir laughed. "Do you think you can stop the Eye of Discord?"
"He said he will so I’ll believe him," Arima shrugged. "I don't have any other choice anyway," he added and glanced at Layla. "Do it."
Layla nodded and helped him get off Fafnir first. Arima had spent all of his remaining energy after the Resonance. He was essentially out of commission. On the other hand, Layla now knew everything there was to know about the Kind Demon's Arts. She’d be the one sealing Fafnir.
She jumped back on Fafnir's body and approached his heart and stopped there. "So, you’re gonna do it, huh?" The dragon muttered without even looking at her.
"What a joke…" He closed his eyes and fell silent.
Layla extended her hand and chanted, "[Fifth Destruction Art, Spatium Horti] (Space Garden)."
The dark blue sphere gored through Fafnir's body and reached his heart within a few seconds. The sphere encapsulated the gold and came out again. It was a quick and simple process since Fafnir's defenses were all down.
Layla stared at the bulging red-flowered sphere. The Nibelungen Gold was already trying to break out. She inhaled and closed her eyes as she commenced a new incantation.
"[Et pax aeternitatis] (Eternity and Peace)."
“[Pertransiri non possint attingit fines] (Unattainable horizons)."
After only two lines, the sky of the whole planet was already being covered by a veil of white-silver light and absolutely everything under it was changing color as well.
"[Adumbravimus potes?] (Can you picture it?)."
"[In piam sinceramque vitam immortalitatis] (The ugliness of immortality)."
"[Non potestis audire?] (Can you hear it?)."
"[Vocationem mors est] (The call of Death)."
"[Potest senseris?] (Can you feel it?)."
"[In ictum vitae] (The stroke of Life)."
The earth and water that had turned pearly white was now moving strangely. Almost like some sort of slime. And all of it was converging toward Fafnir, encasing him inside a cocoon.
"[Ego tibi offerimus] (I'll offer them to you)."
"[Et tu Dormies Aeternum] (You shall Sleep for Eternity)."
"[Et Immortalitatis lucrari tibi, Mors, Vitae] (You shall gain Immortality, Death, Life)."
Layla took Arima with her and flew away as Fafnir was getting covered by the planet itself.
"[First White Art, Perpetua Votum] (Everlasting Wish)," she chanted and the entire planet turned into a white material that swallowed Fafnir's body. The white mass squirmed for a moment until it settled down, as a giant white star with golden dots on it.
Fafnir was sealed for eternity and would continue to drift in space for the same amount of time.
184. “What a joke…”
Fafnir's weapons started flying everywhere. The cannons he had summoned kept firing without rest and every single blade attacked Arima and Layla without even stopping a single second. Even the Bell of Mictlan was ringing uncontrollably. It seemed that Fafnir didn't care about his own health anymore.
Because of the bell's influence, almost every magic was being halted during its activation. But it didn't matter for Arima and Layla. They simply used their bodies to fend off every weapon and would launch a fire breath together from time to time.
Thanks to the Resonance, both of them went through a significant increase in strength and their teamwork was also as perfect as you could expect it. It felt like they were a single person with two different bodies. Even Arima's doppelgangers couldn't be more coordinated than that.
The timing of their attacks was always on point. If any of them had to block one of the giant weapons, he would catch it directly and stop it in its advance. He would then tilt it sideways for the other to blow it away. Afterward, the one who was holding the weapon previously would take care of the weapons behind the other.
It was happening with so much accuracy and speed that you could barely see it. It continuously happened and even Fafnir was getting a headache from witnessing all of it. After only a few minutes, both Arima and Layla had already Fafnir in their range.
"Damnit," Fafnir clicked his tongue and waved his hand. All of his shields materialized to protect him like an impenetrable carapace. Flames then erupted from gaps between the shields and generated an explosion that blew the dragons away. But it was only for a single second and the two helped each other to move out of the area.
They then inhaled and spat out a huge wave of dark-silver fire that clashed with Fafnir's golden flames. The three dragons roared and an even bigger explosion shrouded the void and several planets and stars in the vicinity.
Arima and Layla were forced to retreat but Fafnir's defense also broke. The gilded dragon's eyes flashed with anger and he teleported just behind Layla. He raised Excalibur and swung it vertically at incredible speed.
But Layla didn't even turn around as his sword was blocked by black claws. Arima smirked and kicked Fafnir's weapon away. He then took a stance and taunted his opponent while Layla joined him.
Fafnir's expression twitched. He dropped his swords and also prepared for a barehanded fight. Keeping his weapons would be a mistake considering the extreme difference in size.
Layla's eyes flashed and it was the signal for Arima to move out. He flapped his wings and reached the gilded dragon's neck in a second. Fafnir snorted. He tilted his head to the side and dodged the blow. He then used his tail to strike Arima who blocked it with a side guard.
Layla arrived just after and tried to hit the dragon's temple but Fafnir easily blocked her with his palm. Arima followed and harnessed all of his strength to deflect Fafnir's tail with one punch.
Fafnir's eyes widened and he flapped his wings to swirl. He used the momentum to kick Layla and punch Arima. The former escaped as if she knew it was going to happen and the latter met the golden dragon's punch with his own.
The two surprisingly canceled each other. Fafnir's eyes narrowed and he continued to assault the 'small' dragon in front of him. But each one of his moves got countered by the same exact one.
“[Quod Oculi Domini] (The Eyes of the Lord),” Arima intoned as he copied Fafnir’s every move to very last detail.
Meanwhile, Layla kept bothering the gilded dragon as she flew around and hit him from time to time when he expected it the least. She managed to land a few blows but since most of them barely did any damage, Fafnir came to ignore her. Arima smirked when he saw that and continued his little 'game' for a minute before suddenly charging toward Fafnir.
He also curved slightly and positioned himself near the giant dragon's right side. Fafnir frowned and tried to teleport away but his pupils shook when he noticed that he couldn’t do it. He had forgotten about it; about the girl who could restrain his movements.
In the end, Arima reached his intended target and attacked Fafnir's right side, more specifically, his arm and ribs. The gilded dragon was confused but he still prepared to fight back. But when he tried to move, his muscles suddenly contracted and immobilized him. Fafnir's expression displayed how stunned he was as Arima violently pounded his right side.
He did his best to protect himself but his entire right side was numb and he couldn't move it as he wanted. He then recalled where Lanya had concentrated her attacks; solely on his right half. He rolled his eyes at Layla to see her grinning at him.
He glared at her but was soon forced to recede as his scales cracked and allowed his blood to gush out. This couldn’t continue. He was about to stop the Bell of Mictlan and invoke his magic Arima abruptly augmented his strength above its limits again.
He arrived right in front of Fafnir's torso and gazed at the place where he had seen the cursed gold before. "[Terminus Confractus, CD] (400)." Arima's body cried in pain. He reared his fist until his waist and punched with all of his strength.
"[Fourth White Art, Lower-Layer, Imago Autem Bunraku] (Strings of Bunraku)," he chanted at the same time and glimmering white strings infiltrated Fafnir's body through his injuries.
The gilded dragon vomited blood that darkened his shining scales and was sent flying toward a near planet. He crashed in the ocean and a circular tide was created with him as the source.
Fafnir stood up in rage but his body abruptly stiffened as he was about to fly off. He couldn't do anything to prevent his body from falling backward.
"What…" He was both scared and thunderstruck. The water came back just after and swept over him. "What did you do?!" He shouted the moment he saw Arima coming down. The latter landed on Fafnir's body and exhaled as he sat down.
He grabbed something from his spatial storage and threw it in the air. It was giant candy that he swallowed in one bite. Layla chuckled as she returned to her human form. Arima also saw his body reverting to how it was a moment ago. They had ended the resonance.
Fafnir's expression fell as this meant only one thing. They had deemed this fight to be over. He was overwhelmed with both shame and anger. He attempted to summon his weapons but they didn't come to him. In fact, he could even see some of them falling on the planet like meteorites. They had lost their owner and were now drifting in space aimlessly.
Arima looked up with difficulty. Just this small movement brought him great pain. Layla worriedly looked at him and tried to heal him as much as she could.
"…there's a great treasure floating in the void," he muttered. "I'm sure people will fight for it," he added and looked at Fafnir with a smile. "Even you."
The gilded dragon scoffed and flexed his muscles. His body trembled a little but he failed to move.
"You're wasting your time. You were weak enough so I invaded your internal system with the 'Strings of Bunraku'. Normally, I should be able to even control you. But you're way too big for that. Restraining your movements and magic circuits was my limit," Arima said and Fafnir dropped his head on the sea-floor.
"Are you telling me it's over?"
"No," Arima said. "The Nibelungen Gold will always make you stronger every time you die as long as you have enough pride and greed," he stated. "So, I will, of course, take out the gold from your body and seal it so it can never be used again."
Fafnir laughed. "Do you think you can stop the Eye of Discord?"
"He said he will so I’ll believe him," Arima shrugged. "I don't have any other choice anyway," he added and glanced at Layla. "Do it."
Layla nodded and helped him get off Fafnir first. Arima had spent all of his remaining energy after the Resonance. He was essentially out of commission. On the other hand, Layla now knew everything there was to know about the Kind Demon's Arts. She’d be the one sealing Fafnir.
She jumped back on Fafnir's body and approached his heart and stopped there. "So, you’re gonna do it, huh?" The dragon muttered without even looking at her.
"What a joke…" He closed his eyes and fell silent.
Layla extended her hand and chanted, "[Fifth Destruction Art, Spatium Horti] (Space Garden)."
The dark blue sphere gored through Fafnir's body and reached his heart within a few seconds. The sphere encapsulated the gold and came out again. It was a quick and simple process since Fafnir's defenses were all down.
Layla stared at the bulging red-flowered sphere. The Nibelungen Gold was already trying to break out. She inhaled and closed her eyes as she commenced a new incantation.
"[Et pax aeternitatis] (Eternity and Peace)."
“[Pertransiri non possint attingit fines] (Unattainable horizons)."
After only two lines, the sky of the whole planet was already being covered by a veil of white-silver light and absolutely everything under it was changing color as well.
"[Adumbravimus potes?] (Can you picture it?)."
"[In piam sinceramque vitam immortalitatis] (The ugliness of immortality)."
"[Non potestis audire?] (Can you hear it?)."
"[Vocationem mors est] (The call of Death)."
"[Potest senseris?] (Can you feel it?)."
"[In ictum vitae] (The stroke of Life)."
The earth and water that had turned pearly white was now moving strangely. Almost like some sort of slime. And all of it was converging toward Fafnir, encasing him inside a cocoon.
"[Ego tibi offerimus] (I'll offer them to you)."
"[Et tu Dormies Aeternum] (You shall Sleep for Eternity)."
"[Et Immortalitatis lucrari tibi, Mors, Vitae] (You shall gain Immortality, Death, Life)."
Layla took Arima with her and flew away as Fafnir was getting covered by the planet itself.
"[First White Art, Perpetua Votum] (Everlasting Wish)," she chanted and the entire planet turned into a white material that swallowed Fafnir's body. The white mass squirmed for a moment until it settled down, as a giant white star with golden dots on it.
Fafnir was sealed for eternity and would continue to drift in space for the same amount of time.
