章 172: ''He's just kind of a brute.''

"It seems like we have some business to take care of on our side too," Layla said and stood up just a minute after their talk with Jorga.

At the same time, the noble dragon who had welcomed Arima before landed beside Oulan and informed him about something through telepathy.

The old dragon's eyes widened and he nodded slowly. "I had no idea they could do that…"

Jorga frowned as he looked at both Layla and Oulan. "The Téra are gathering. And they're getting stronger as they do so," the former spoke up to explain the situation. "They are not as strong as the ones we encountered in Hell but they seem to be feeding on Fafnir's aura."

"Should we stop them?" Karma asked.

"Yes," it was Oulan who answered her question. "They are grouping around the largest domain on this continent. It seems that they are preparing to attack it."

"It's strange," Karma tilted her head. "I thought that they were not supposed to be intelligent enough to prepare a coordinated assault… Arima said it was a special case in Hell since the stronger ones had appeared and controlled the others."

"Then does it mean that one of those superior Téra was born on this planet because of Fafnir's energy? So quickly?" Jorga was surprised. He had studied those Téra a little bit and at least on his planet, they were far from being intelligent. Their strength was not that high too.

"They get stronger over time, as Pandora designed them, but they can also feed on wild auras and energies to empower themselves," Layla said. "And basically, the stronger they get, the smarter they become. It seems that the Téra are the kind of monsters that act mindlessly but are extremely cooperative with their peers…"

"It should be all right though," Karma declared and everyone looked at her. "I was with Arima when he was fighting the stronger ones in Hell. If the ones here were to be as strong as them then we would have a huge problem, particularly if there is more than one, since even Arima at full power was struggling against them."

"But Fantasia is far from having a comparable quantity of aura and energy as Hell had on its surface. At best, the strongest we will find will be around the First or Second Divine. Maybe Third Divine, if they're able to share the energy and concentrate it into a single Téras," she supposed and Layla nodded.

"I agree," she followed and looked at Oulan. "Tell the dragons to retreat, I will go there myself."

Oulan nodded and signaled the noble dragon who had come to warn him. "Carcus, go tell them to retreat and avoid conflict."

Carcus nodded and flew off as he transmitted the message to everyone through telepathy. Layla sighed and her silver wings grew on her back. She flapped them and instantly disappeared. Oulan looked at her as she disappeared and then followed her.

Jorga blinked as he looked at them. "What am I supposed to do now? Did I come here to just tag something, and complain about my life?"

Karma giggled. "Maybe."

"…Why are you still here?"

"Hm? Me? Why would I go? I'm a weapon in the first place and only Arima and Night are allowed to wield me," Karma shrugged. "And I don't like to fight."

"You're at the First Divine though…" Jorga retorted.

"A detail," Karma smiled. "Also, there's no need for me to step up," she added and Jorga frowned. Karma chuckled at his reaction. "She's strong, you know? She was not able to display her strength in Hell but Layla is very powerful. She might even approach Arima's 'level of existence'."

"She's far from being as strong or sagacious as Arima, of course, but right now she's one of the most 'complex' individuals in this Plane who can reach great heights."

Jorga was a bit amazed. Layla was a lot stronger than he had thought. He was lost in his thoughts until he felt Karma climbing on his body.

"…oi."

"What? Let's go there and watch."

"Why should I be your mount? Why don't you use that big creature over there?"

"I don't want to wake up Deva without Arima around… she's kinda scary," Karma admitted and Jorga grunted. He clicked his tongue and ascended in the sky before flying toward the place Oulan went to.

***

Layla arrived before anyone and spotted the horde of dragons flying away from the tall rocky mountain that stood proudly in the middle of the continent. She scanned every life-sign with a single glance and focused on the huge mass at the feet of the mountain.

Her eyes blinked several times and her pupils went from one side to the other. Then she closed her eyes and summoned her rapier.

"Six thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight targets…" She muttered and the blade of her sword glowed. She gradually opened her eyes and her wings left a white trail as she moved fast enough to leave an afterimage as she charged toward the Téra.

It was just like in Hell. They were weaker but their appearance was pretty much the same. They could be nothing and anything at the same time. As Lanya's rapier flashed, a silver light followed the path she made among the army of monsters.

Oulan arrived at that moment and froze in a stupor. The moment he reached the combat zone, he saw the intricate silver lines floating among the Téra as if it was a physical substance of some sort. The whole army was bathing in silver light and each Téras was in contact with at least one of the lines.

From above, it looked like an intricate puzzle with intertwined strings. Layla reappeared above them and, as she swung her rapier naturally, a wave of corporeal light spread around her like water. Strangely, the Téra could only look at her as their veins were bulging and illuminating through their skin.

"[Luminous Enigma]," Layla chanted and every monster coughed blood and died within a single breath. When their bodies fell on the ground, the heads rolled on the ground. The aerial Téra also fell from the sky, along with a rain of blood, around Layla.

Oulan shivered. The sight of her in the middle of a bloody rain was a bit too much for his old weary mind. Jorga arrived afterward and exclaimed in a slight surprise whilst Karma smiled.

Layla looked at the corpses around her and smirked. She flapped her wings and landed on the ground, flattening it. The blood and bones bounced from the ground and Lanya swung her rapier at a certain dragon-like Téras.

Her hand moved like lightning and her blade pierced every pressure point before the Téras could retaliate. He could only growl and spit out a huge flame. But it was quickly extinguished by the 'liquid light' that followed Layla's every movement.

She went through the flames as if it was a breeze and planted her rapier in the dragon's head before pressing the trigger. The pellets left the barrel and blasted open the head of the Téras.

Layla jumped back afterward and lightly landed on the ground this time, without even disturbing the airflow. She tapped her clothes a little to dust them and smiled when she finished.

The old dragon felt awkward and smiled bitterly. He had been prepared to help but found himself completely useless. Jorga's azure eyes widened as he stared at Layla in the middle of that bloody field.

"It was a great show of finesse…" He praised and Karma laughed.

"Yes. It's the opposite of Arima. If he was the one doing it, it would've ended sooner but he also would have used more mana. And instead of destroying the head of that mutant Téras, the entire body would have vanished."

"Even though he can be quite calm and sophisticated at times, most of the time he's just kind of a brute," Karma nodded several times to affirm her sayings and Jorga closed his mouth as a shadow was cast beside him.

"Well, I'm sorry for being a brute."

Karma stopped laughing and turned around with robotic movements. When she saw Arima's head looming over her, looking down, she laughed uneasily and yelped as Arima hit her head with magic.

"Ow…" She rubbed her head with a pout.

"{Why are you angry? She just said the truth,}" Night casually intruded and Arima's expression twitched. He expressionlessly shifted his look toward Layla and his eyes flashed with a strange light as if he had suddenly thought of something.

'I'll check that later…'

"Hey, you're back," Layla said as Arima was mumbling to himself. "Did you get a core?" She asked when she landed next to him.

"I did," Arima nodded.

"Then we have to wait now?" Jorga uttered and Arima scowled at him.

"Why would we do that? I don't have the time to patiently wait for an ancient dragon of greed to wake up," he retorted.

"What?" Jorga was shocked and so was Oulan.

"What are you so flustered about?" Arima huffed. "The only reason we didn't attack him directly was that it would wake him up and we needed to resolve the lack of a core first. But now that we have a solution, there's no problem."

Jorga was speechless but he also knew that Arima was right. "Fine. I won't be of any use in the fight anyway," when he said that, Layla's eyes morphed for less than a second but instantly returned to normal afterward.

Arima closed one eye and smiled. "Of course, you can take some distance. I'll bring you back to your forest too if you want."

"It's fine, I want to stay here and watch. In case you need me, just call."

Arima shrugged and pointed at somewhere. "You can get on Deva's back. She will get you out of here if it's ever required."

Jorga nodded and then flew off as Karma returned to Arima's side.

"So, how do we do this?" Layla then inquired and Arima glanced at Oulan.

"Call every dragon. Tell them to get as far as possible from this exact location. Right now," Arima instructed and Oulan immediately complied.

"It's really simple," Arima then spoke toward Layla as he drew out Superore. The gun had now become even bigger to fit his dragon stature. In the eyes of a normal human, it would be bigger than a tank already.

But it didn't mean that its power had risen compared to its usual size. Only the range was perhaps increased. The two cannons of the gun lighted up with the blue and black plasma.

"I'll give him a good reason to wake up then I'll force him to leave this planet. Then, you'll distract him until I finish replacing the core," Arima explained and smirked. His eyes glowed and the barrels were full of energy. Electricity was spreading through the air and circling him.

He stared at the ground for a few seconds and then finally pressed the trigger of his weapon.