''A clash of theories.''

Anubis's body fell apart into grains of sand and mixed with the ones that were already following him. The large cloud of sand was very dense and was flying toward the falling burning star. It took the shape of a giant wolf that howled as it neared its target.

Trevy's large body, covered in anti-matter, also scattered and became a mass of darkness. It fused with the sand and transformed the wolf into a black one. The newly created magic was launched at the burning star.

The wolf opened its mouth. "[Hungered Wolf Chasing the Stars]," the overlaying voices of Trevy and Anubis echoed throughout space.

The giant wolf's eyes flashed. It reached the star and literally ate it. It swallowed a chunk of the star and made it disappear. The star's section that was then missing immediately became unstable and erupted into flames. The wolf turned into grains of sand and reformed itself somewhere else before taking another bite.

Like this, the mighty wolf gradually wore out the star's integrity and made it completely disappear when the core was swallowed and erased by anti-matter. Anubis and Trevy resurfaced afterward and inhaled. They had accomplished what they had to do but the whole process took them around ten minutes.

When they looked back at Melumnia, ready to go back to help their comrades, they stiffened and completely stopped moving. Instead, they watched in complete disarray as Melumnia, which was now a barren and dark planet, imploded silently.

There was no detonation or obvious flame but it was the worst impact they had ever suffered. Both of them coughed blood while trying to resist the wave after wave of death infused energy and continuous shockwaves that could destroy planets in hundreds.

Even the star they had just got rid of might have been blown off even without their intervention.

"What happened while we were away?!" Trevy shouted and Anubis growled as his defenses were about to break.

***

Meanwhile, Malum and Shakti were wandering in an unknown realm where even color didn't exist. They were aware of their surroundings but it was as if they could never touch anything or even know the true appearance of anything present there.

"{This place is what we call Meuro,}" Shakti spoke and her voice echoed in Malum's head. "{It's the space that exists between Planes. Imagine a recipient filled with water and bubbles at the surface. The bubbles are the Planes, we are in the water,}" she explained and stared at a small blue wisp of light in front of her.

"{What is that?}" Malum asked. He spotted a few others in the distance.

"{A Plane.}"

"{Huh?}"

Shakti let out a giggle. "{In this place, size doesn't matter. Space and Time don't even exist. We might be bigger than the Planes here but it's not like our weight or energy can compare to these small wisps.}"

"{…How do we move it?}"

"{Simple, we push it,}" she responded and Malum scowled at her. "{Technically, it's just that. We're going to push this Plane and everything inside. But doing so would virtually require a strength capable of pushing the weight of millions of worlds and their incalculable number of planets.}"

"{So, what we're going to do is this; I'm going to link my soul and mind to the Plane for a really short time. This will allow me to transmit my will to every inhabitant inside. But, of course, even I won't be able to withstand their combined spiritual force,}" she said and Malum rubbed his eyes.

"{Get to the point.}"

She smiled wryly. "{I'll send a powerful psychic wave that will force them to release their aura and push their Plane in the same direction as us. And for that, I need someone else to bear the toll with me. Particularly the mana consumption and mental fatigue.}"

Malum snorted. "{Let's do it already then,}" he declared and his eyes blazed in purple fire. They became ashes and so did the rest of his body. He became a skeletal dragon again and huffed.

"{If we're talking about mental fortitude, I'm even better than Arima.}"

Shakti looked at him and nodded solemnly. She placed her hands around the 'Plane' and closed her eyes. She liberated her spirit and mana and Malum silently praised her.

'Her control and efficiency are truly perfect. I don't know if Arima could do this. But it looks like her otherworldly ability limits her fighting prowess…' He thought then deployed his ashen wings.

He enclosed Shakti with them and concentrated too. He gave the control of his entire mana pool to her as if it was nothing and effortlessly connected to her mind.

Shakti was surprised and a bit flustered. She didn't expect him to do it so casually and trustingly. She opened one eye for a second to observe him and focused back on her work.

***

Raylein stared at the three-headed hound standing in front of him like a small mountain. He then looked at Ganesha who was smiling next to him.

"You're saying that this is thanks to your luck?"

"Maybe," Ganesha shrugged. "That's my main ability after all."

"It's quite unexpected to find an acquaintance of that man like this," Evangeline remarked and Gilgamesh nodded.

"Explain yourself already. Who are you and what's your connection with Arima?" Kerberos inquired and the Pillars sighed.

"He's our new boss, I guess," Raylein admitted bitterly. "I'm called Raylein. Here's Ganesha, Evangeline, and Gilgamesh. Normally, this should be the moment where I tell you about our ranks amongst the Guardians but I'd say it's pretty useless now."

"Guardians? The Plane Guardians?" Chulainn was shocked. He had randomly met these people while traveling across planes, as Arima instructed him to do, and they turned out to be such powerhouses.

He groaned when he realized they had called Arima their boss. "How the hell did he manage that?"

"Oh, well, nothing too big," Raylein jested. "He just took our entire planet in hostage and killed three of us including the First Guardian."

"…I'm kind of sorry for you," Chulainn muttered and shook his head. "Anyway, you're here on his orders, right? What did he ask you to do?"

"Gather an army. The same as you, I think," Raylein answered and Chulainn mused.

"I'd like to know, what is it for exactly? Arima didn't tell me," he questioned and Raylein made a helpless expression.

"Probably to fight the Pillars."

"The Pillars?"

"Yeah," Raylein nodded. "You can see them as the exact opposites of the Guardians. They work under the Devil and exist to conquer the Planes instead of protecting them."

Chulainn's eyes widened. He lifted his middle head and the two others bent their neck to stare at Raylein. "Are they as strong as you?"

Raylein smiled. "I'd like to affirm that statement… But it would be a lie since I honestly think they are stronger overall."

"Where is Arima then?"

"Fighting them."

"…Sorry?"

"He is combatting the ten of them along with the renowned powerhouses such as Odin and Kronos… alone," Raylein reiterated.

Chulainn was speechless. "… 'Alone'?"

Raylein scratched his hair and realized that even he was still a bit dazed by this. "Well, he still has his soul companions with him but… yes."

The Hellhound sighed strongly and Raylein agreed with him internally.

"In any case, how many people did you gather?" He inquired and Chulainn looked at him.

"Around a million people at the Heavenly Realm, as well as many others at the Earthen Realm," Chulainn uttered and Raylein was a bit surprised.

"That's a lot. How did you gather that much? Even if Arimane gave you a device to travel Planes, how did you convince people to join you?"

Chulainn snickered. "I just showed them our memories of what Arima did in our Plane and told them that he wanted an army."

Raylein blinked dumbfoundedly. Ganesha seemed to be amused and Evangeline chuckled while covering her mouth. Gilgamesh quietly nodded for some reason.

"That's actually a really witty method," the succubus commented with a smile on her face.

"I can't say it isn't…" Raylein mumbled.

"What about you?" Chulainn followed.

"Gilgamesh," Raylein said in return. The King of Babylon nodded and his eyes glowed. He moved his hand slowly and wrote runes with his fingers at the same time. A golden light came out of his body and constructed the frame of a giant gate.

It soon became a physical one, shining gold. It opened slowly and revealed what was behind to the frozen Hellhound.

***

Layla clasped her hands and the barrier surrounding the burning star in front of her annulled the gravitational and magnetic fields.

"That's the hundredth," Flavio announced as he teleported next to her. Aergia arrived just after.

"What do we do? Are we supposed to continue?" She asked with a tired voice. "This whole thing is killing me…"

Aergia glanced at the star Layla had confined and waved her hand. The mass of fire was immediately sent into her storage. In fact, since the beginning, she was the one storing the stars in a separate space she had created. The fact that she could store that much volume showed how powerful she was.

"I don't know," Layla answered her question. "Arima told us to collect as much as we could. Maybe that means we just have to continue until he calls us back," she assumed and Aergia groaned.

"Why did I accept that…" She mumbled to herself and Layla laughed lightly. Flavio shook his head and sighed.

When they were about to leave, Layla stopped moving and her eyes gradually changed. Her pupils narrowed until they were a slit. Some runes even appeared on her irises. Aergia looked at her and scowled.

"What's wrong?" She had witnessed Layla's ability while watching her fight with Victor and was slightly worried. Flavio also gazed at her.

Layla hummed. "Well… Melumnia has just been erased from existence."

"…Huh?"

"…What?"

***

Ten minutes earlier.

Odin threw his spear and Gungnir whistled as it made its way toward Arima. The latter tried to flee the moment it happened but Ahura sharply interrupted him.

'Shit.'

Even if he could dodge her normally thanks to his Art, he could not do it if he were to run linearly to escape Gungnir. He swung his sword at her and she placed her palm on the blade's flat side. She nimbly trailed it and her hand dangerously approached his throat.

Arima contracted his muscles and his figure vanished just before he was hit. Many different phenomena occurred as he moved; lightning, wind, water, spirits, gravity, electromagnetic waves, atoms, molecules… The traces he left behind were a mix of all those things supporting him at the same time.

His displacement speed was so great that it almost felt like teleportation. Arima went behind Ahura and his entire body fumed. He tried to cut her but Karma was blocked by a white sword, hovering behind her.

Ahura turned around just after and swung another weapon at Arima, which he dodged quite easily this time. He retreated and scanned his surroundings with his senses. The sword that parried his own had a small crack on it and was already repairing. But, more importantly, there were three other floating swords around Ahura, and she was holding a fifth one in her hand.

Arima clicked his tongue. 'If I fight her carelessly, I'll seriously die.'

"{Arima, it's coming!}" Night warned and Arima was reminded of Gungnir. He urgently faced the direction Gungnir was coming from and halted. His body released a strange vapor again.

'Gungnir is said to never miss its target. It will even move through Space and Time to reach the target if it's necessary,' Arima recalled the legend as the crimson spear flew toward him. The red light produced by the legendary artifact was reflected in his blank eyes.

'My Art allows me to evade anything, and the entire world's substance will help me to do so…'

Arima grinned as he felt the tip of the spear touching his neck. 'Can the impenetrable shield be pierced by the undefendable spear… It will be a clash of theories.'