Life Hunter 158 ''That's Just Someone Else''

The moment Arima's doppelganger used the forbidden art, his body started to disintegrate. He looked at both Lanya and Lilis one more time and closed his eyes.

Lilis immediately felt something interacting with the root of her being. Her soul, mind, and body were getting under the control of something else. She didn't resist at all and let everything go. It wasn't long before she felt a strange connection with Lanya.

In a world devoid of colors, she found herself standing in front of Lanya. The latter was looking at her and smiled wryly. Lilis had the same kind of expression. In the end, they both reached out and hugged as if it was the natural thing to do.

After they did so, their vision warped. Many things pa.s.sed by inside their minds. They felt their strength rise exponentially. The next thing they knew was that they were standing in front of Hephaestus.

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When the blue and purple fireball, touched the ground. It didn't explode right away. Instead, it bounced like a simple rubber ball.

Karaskan was perplexed at first but suddenly went back inside Pandora's temple after a moment.

Hephaestus didn't move. As long as Pandora was behind him, he will never move. His state didn't allow that anyway. What Lanya inflicted to him while she had his hand through her stomach was not something he could casually heal.

His body had become tetanized by Lanya's light. The first effects were that his skin dried and fell, then the light penetrated his bare flesh and brought over atrocious pain to his body. He himself seemed to be able to ignore it but his body was slowly crumbling apart from the inside. Like a disease.

Pandora tried to help its guardian and managed to stabilize him but the 'virus' was still there. If Pandora stops its help, Hephaestus will most likely perish.

Hephaestus was just staring at the fireball that was bouncing on the ground like a slime and it was then that the First Blue Art showed its might.

The air around the ball became so hot that the atmosphere became blurry. The ground below was turning into magma. The Art was releasing heat for the first time.

Then it happened. Everything contained in that small fireball exploded in one go. The blue fire erupted first. Hephaestus's eyes narrowed. He gripped his hammer with his right hand and light flashed in his left one.

A one-handed ax was summoned and he struck the ground with it along with his hammer. The earth and stone burned as they were dug out by the huge tremor. Instead of turning into lava, they gained a sort of l.u.s.ter as the stone and soil gained a smooth and tough surface.

They basically transformed into metal. The blacksmith of the G.o.ds showed his true colors. The stone was not destroyed but forged.

The 'dark metal' took the form of a giant long s.h.i.+eld with a refined appearance and an anvil symbol in the middle. The s.h.i.+eld glowed and red lines orderly spread on it. A transparent barrier was extended from the edges to protect Hephaestus.

The blue fire didn't do much. It just continuously grew and reached a great density as it covered the ground for more than five thousand miles. Also, the distance between the ground and the highest point of the flames was twenty meters.

If you looked from the sky, you would only be able to see a sea of blue flames that didn't release any heat. The only place you could find a change in temperature was at the source. The fireball that was still bouncing on the ground.

When Hephaestus could only see blue, no matter where he looked, the fireball finally blasted apart and a purple spark ignited the azure fire. As if the latter was just fuel or a gas of some sort, the purple color ignited it.

The rest was a chain reaction. The blue became overwritten by the purple as it exploded everywhere. The sea of flames became hot and chaotic and a final discharge shook the Original Land.

Everything was reduced to ashes and flattened to the same level. The mountains broke apart from their base and collapsed before burning too. The fire raised to the sky and a colossal mushroom in the shape of a skull formed on the horizon.

Hephaestus roared among the chaos and protected Pandora at the same time with his s.h.i.+eld. Cracks appeared on thin air.

It was indeed Arima's own magic that was destroying the dimension before. And when the blue flames finally stopped burning. It was the dimension's turn to explode with a blinding light.

Hephaestus who had taken the First Art's explosion head-on was then struck again by an odd and oppressive aura. His s.h.i.+eld had been melted already and he was full of burns. He protected Pandora with his body alone and fell into an even worse state.

The energy that left the collapsing dimension messed up with his mana and aura and he felt like something was trying to rule over him. As if it was trying to get control over his entire being. He planted his ax in the ground and forged even more dark metal to help him.

The first ones who emerged from the light were the G.o.ds and Ifrit. Chulainn's figure soon jumped out after them and landed on the ground beside the G.o.ds. Their expressions seemed to tell that they had just faced the scariest thing in their entire lives.

They all stared at the light who was slowly fading away. They gulped as a single figure appeared before them. That person smiled sweetly and playfully and looked at herself with curious eyes.

She opened and closed her fists and breathed in. The light completely vanished and the G.o.ds felt even more shocked.

Long black and silver hair that fluttered with the wind. She wore a white and black robe that showcased her forms and appeal. Magnificent silver and red wings were on her back. Her arms were covered by transparent scales that s.h.i.+ned under the sun and let people see the soft and white skin below.

She had bright silver irises and the red pupils of a dragon. Her facial features were absolutely perfect on that jade skin of hers. Her lips looked sensual every time they parted and everyone would be attracted by her calm and playful expression.

Faced with that beauty, even Aphrodite and Gabriel felt jealousy and admiration. All the guys around them were also quite impressed. Even Ifrit had to admit it even though he didn't usually make any distinction between the humans' appearance. But the perfect beauty he was looking at was enough to impress him just by her natural presence.

"It worked splendidly" Her voice sounded incredibly gentle and oppressive at the same time. She smiled as she looked at Hephaestus. Her slender legs took one step and her wings left a white trail. She instantly disappeared from everyone's sights.

Hephaestus's eyes narrowed and the next thing he knew was that a rapier was piercing through his body. He looked down quickly and tried to grab the blade but a detonation resounded and his body was thrown away as the rapier was pulled out.

He felt his back being blasted open and his bones crushed. When he was sent flying away, he threw his ax at the ground and then swung his hammer to strike the debris. They transformed into a dark metal and became sharp projectiles that aimed at his a.s.sailant.

The latter just chuckled and the metal was pulverized by multiple rays of light. She waved her rapier and a single line was drawn. A magic blade was created and was sent at Hephaestus with tremendous speed.

The Demon opened his eyes wide and was about to block the attack with his hammer and then throw his ax. But his opponent' eyes glowed with both an azure and pink hue.

Hephaestus suddenly became paralyzed and his head started to hurt him from the inside. He lost any will to fight and the magic blade made a clean cut in his chest. It exploded with powerful energy and a shockwave which made Hephaestus dig the first crater on the barren land created by the First Blue Art.

The G.o.ds looked agape as the winged beauty that could even bring shame to a love G.o.ddess gently landed on the ground. Her demeanor and att.i.tude felt extremely domineering and confident. That smile she carried on her face reminded the G.o.ds of Arima.

They recalled what happened inside the dimension after Arima's doppelganger chanted a mysterious magic which only carried an ominous connotation in the name.

When they saw the light filling the dimension's boundaries, they saw Arima disappearing as the figures of both Lanya and Lilis's silhouettes joined together to form a single one. After that, they only felt a sudden burst of aura and they were kicked out of the dimension.

They were not biased. They perfectly understood what happened. By some miracle, Arima managed to fuse Lanya and Lilis together to save the former from imminent death. They managed to understand that but they were not able to accept it.

'Lilis' and 'Lanya' looked at 'themselves'. Their mind and soul had fused together. They not only shared memories and emotions. They literally fused together to form a new individual. A new personality.

"How should I call myself?" That was what 'they' were worrying the most right now. They couldn't really keep either Lanya or Lilis since both did not correspond to what they had become.

After a moment of thought and the sound of Hephaestus getting up, 'they' finally decided "I will be Layla from now on" She decided and immediately took up on her new name.

Layla breathed in and a relaxed expression formed on her face. She then exhaled and her eyes gained some sharpness. Her sky-blue eyes s.h.i.+ned and looked at Pandora in the sky.

Her Draconic Eyes couldn't see Pandora's future even after she had raised her strength to the third divine. Even with Chronepsis's knowledge that she had just acquired, she still wasn't able to a.n.a.lyze Pandora. Chronos was the same as he looked with an anxious expression at Pandora.

Layla squinted her eyes and sharpened her senses. The unlocking noises coming from the box were still going on. Everyone looked at it anxiously. Hephaestus stood up while everyone was staring at Pandora and Layla.

The latter smiled and looked at the injured Demon. She casually wielded her rapier and invoked her aura as she prepared for battle "Let's see how long you can last" She smirked and taunted.

The G.o.ds were gaping and Karaskan was utterly lost "…That's just someone else at this point" Chulainn retorted and everyone scowled at him.