Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

“Shall I go up first?” Aurelia asked.

“Your pregnant remember?” Zariel said, flicking her head. He groaned. “Why’d you even want to come? A battlefield is no place for a pregnant woman.”

“I didn’t say it,” Van said while hiding behind me. “But he has a point… A little point.”

‘Tsk. When’d you become such a pussy, eh?” Aurelia spat, akin to a feral gangster.

“When you started losing your goddamn mind. Wait! I’m kidding! I’m kidding!” Van squealed as Aurelia turned to me, eyes like golden fire. She grinned evilly.

“You think I don’t know about your gentleman’s club you set up with Izzy? You and that fat tub of lard thought you could take my Jin to a brothel, and I didn’t know about it? Why Zariel assigned dumb and dumber to him is beyond me.”

I glanced at Van, unable to help from raising my thumb. “Teach ’em young, my brother. May the Dao of Booty guide his path….”

“For we are the Council.” Van finished, our cheeky laughter resonating through the clouds.

“I’m telling your wife. And you got two, Arsene. Tene isn’t some pushover, you know. Think you can just land your cock any which way, and she not care? Hmph.” She snorted, turning to Zariel. “Never been happier you got tortured in hell.”

“… you know. That’s probably one of the least fucked up things you said in a while.” Zariel said, “I’ll take it. Although I can’t say, I’m fond of you benefiting from my torment.”

“I’m not fat! Just… big boned.” Izzy, number four, chimed in, “And in my defense, he had a blast. You should have seen him tossing bills at those bitches. Our little man was—”

“He’s a damn baby!!!” Lilith shouted. “Thoughts not even nearing two!”

“Did not matter to the coin! Our little jin had all the bitches in the palm of his hands.”

“ZARIEL!!!!” Aurelia howled, but by the time we looked, Zariel had darted toward the amassing army. ‘YOU FUCKING COWARD! 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘭．𝑜𝘳𝘨

She chased. Anger fuming over her sublime features.

Why’s she mad at him? Izzy and Vancurro were the ones to take the baby to a brothel. What’s the big deal?

“That blank expression tells me you and Zariel are cut from the same cloth. My Lord! You are something else. Same with your goddamn group of weirdos,” Ishar muttered, shaking her head. “I’m going to go now. Don’t die.” She said, taking to the skies, glancing at the devils and demons on my side, beckoning for them.

She’d not even need to encourage the men as they all roared, the excitement rattling against the lining of their throats.

“Dodged a bullet! Thank God.” Van muttered. “How’d she even find out? Bet it was that snitch of a brother of yours. He tells her everything.”

“You really took my nephew to a brothel?”

“Bro… Do you know the amount of bitches one can pull with a baby? It’s a great opener. Even if it’s not yours, just having a baby shows how responsible you are. How secure a parent must feel about leaving their child with you, not to mention I’m a man of all things. How many male babysitters you’ve seen before? I was like a unicorn to these bitches!”

… Genius!

Have I been naive this whole time? Should I have started trying to make children the day Lilith and I had dinner? Seems kids have a more social role than I initially thought. Hmm…

“Sene… what are you thinking about?” The chilling voice of Lilith asked, looming over me like a shadow. She eyed me with such a look even I felt a chill.

“Your second funeral has come earlier than expected,” Vancurro mentioned evilly, chuckling as he fled towards the skies. “Good luck, bro! See ya, Lilith!”

“Bye! Van!” She sang and glared evilly at me. “Our babies are not going to a brothel… period.”

I scuffed. “You think I’d take my daughter… or son to such a filthy place? Lilith, I am disappoi—”

“Period, Sene.” She said, darker, harsher than ever before

“… yes, dear.” I mustered the courage to say but kept the idea in my mind. As if the lord of Eternal Darkness, the Hell Lord of Irkalla, Master of—”

‘I can literally feel you still scheming. It seems I’ve got to find a way to separate you from Vancurro and Izzy. Who knew those two idiots would have such an effect on you? Gods, I hope it’s not genetics.”

A wry grin caught my lips. “Oh, Lili, you are just too… suspicious,” I said, turning away.

She grinned. “You seen Zan of late?”

I snapped to her, but she was already gone, her demonic laughter chiming through the void around me.

“Your mine, Sene. All mine. Ezra, Zanris, Tene, Freya. They are only here temporarily. Hate me or love me. Your mine.”

My blood boiled, and without hesitation, I expanded my divine sense through my blood for Zanris, finding her on Iluthath. And sighed a sigh of relief.

“So Lilith’s beginning, huh,” I whispered, soaring up into the skies. I stared ahead at war and activated the Path of Abyssal Night.

Slowly, everything began to slow: Aurelia’s sword cleaving apart angels as though they were flimsy sheets of paper, to Zariel dismantling various Gods as though they weren’t even lesser beings but mere toys for him to play with.

Laws, Concepts, and the Manifestation of Intent froze beneath my gaze as Mephisto’s Technique hummed through my mind: Infringement of Time.

A seizing force caught my limbs, pulling my consciousness into a void onto itself, still of all life. Darkness swelled around the void within my mind, tugging at my heart with such unfamiliarity: It felt uneasy.

And then, as if a great mist had gathered, a silver mirror appeared larger than any mountain, engraved in runes of Infernal, Enochian, Abyssal, and Futhark. An ethereal glow flashed, blinding me within this sea of Darkness.

[Choose your Opponent!]

Startled by the lettering within the Great Mirror, understanding regarding Mephisto’s technique unfolded through my heart. Understanding of everything that made this technique monstrous.

[Through Time and Space, the Infringement of Time awaits! Choose your Opponent!]

I smiled. “Anyone, eh? Then… I choose… Zariel Snow: Star date: CX301. On the day he became a Chaos Lord.]

[INFRINGEMENT OF TIME BEGINNING! ERROR – Weave not accessible! Error! THE ONE HAS DENIED YOU! ERROR! ABYSS HAS ACKNOWLEDGED! THE CONSTELLATION OF THE MATRIX GENERATOR IS BEGINNING!]

“Let’s see what you’re made of… Little Brother.”