Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

Shadow Stepping behind Iserth, a gleam of surprise took hold of the Badlands Warrior, but almost like he had eyes in the back of his head, or maybe the foresight to see what was going to happen; he pivoted off his feet the moment Arsene Spear whipped through the air.

Dodging once again by the skin of his teeth, sweat gathered around Iserth’s brow as he faced the smiling Arsene.

“Your good, when I—”

Clenching his chest, Arsene staggered a couple of feet back. Falling to one knee, he groaned. “Already?” He remarked, releasing a dry cough. “Fuck.” Picking himself up, he sighed.

“What is happening to you?” The Badlands Warrior asked, seemingly too prideful to strike a man when he was down.

“Who knows?” Arsene casually mentioned shrugging his shoulders when a black mist crackled with arcs of gold and emerald lights. An inhuman pressure began to flow, painting the skies black with despair, and continued, “But if you wish to survive, then all seven better attack. No need to hide.”

Arsene’s gaze slid past the debris to the hidden warriors, who began to appear with weapons molded by Qi.

“It’s about to end,” Izavith softly chimed in.

Sinking into my chair, I, too, could sense the stirring in the air. Something was coming.

Fingers clenching, I stared, making sure to record everything.

Arsene pointed his spear towards the skies and stared up with misty eyes.

Tears?

The smile on his face had never faded, and for some reason, it made my heart want to break. It made me want to take him into my arms.

“I’m just a ghost from a lost era, aren’t I?” He bitterly said to himself, returning his eyes to Iserth, surrounded by six Badland Warriors, all seemingly within the realm of Emperor and Godking. It was a terrifying lineup, but I couldn’t see fear, nor could I see worry.

Only deadly confidence I couldn’t seem to grasp.

“Boss, this man—”

“Save it, Rose. I’m sure all of you can see it, but not even the system can determine what he is—Ready yourself for what is coming.” Iserth coldly barked as two ethereal clocks crown the top of his head.

“Your that serious?”

“Hold nothing back,” Iserth said.

“I kind of wish I didn’t come back. I would have loved to have a chat with you, little bro. You too, guys.” He softly said, wiping his eyes, “but I guess this is the second time I die.”

My heart bled at his words as I turned to Izavith. “Help him.”

“I-I…we cannot get involved,” Izavith bitterly said,” No one can change the fact he is just a fragmented memory.”

“That’s bull shit, and you know it. You are one of the strongest if not ‘the’ strongest being aside from the Great Ones.”．𝗻𝐞𝘁

“Master,” Izavith gently called to me, running her hands through my hair and taking hold of my palm, “If he were a pure abyssal fiend, I could help, but he holds the One’s power in him. The only one who has the power to change anything is the One and the All. And I’m afraid neither will assist Arsene: this is his trial.”

Water filled my sight as I stared at Arsene’s smile. “Necrotic Blade,” He calmly said when a bolt of deadly energy split the Heavens and Earth from the skies. Falling like an Angel cast from Heaven, it struck the Earth, landing square upon Arsene’s spear.

And to everyone’s horror, even Izavith, we all saw the tattoo’s around Arsene’s body begin to move. Spreading like wildfire, they slowly began to stretch to his face.

Forming a barrier to protect me, Izavith growled as a massive shockwave came like a deadly whirlwind. “That crazy bastard ate the Fallen QI of Mephisto. He’s eating his Blessing.”

“Eh? You can do that?”

“He’s doing it, so I guess it’s possible!”

“Come at me, show me what you monsters are capable of.” Arsene bellowed; spreading his wings wide, he bolted like a beam of light to the Army of Seven.

“Face the style of Black Sabbath,” Arsene howled, and from the depths of my heart, I felt a monstrous amount of fear being born as his spear began to dance with the most sinful of auras. Watching this new fighting style made my stomach want to twist, but I dared not turn away.

As if a fallen had taken hold of Arsene, his battle prowess soared to such heights that his body began to bleed, his eyes began to drip with blood, and his lips peeled at the power coursing through his veins. Almighty essence flowed like the winds, poring without end from Arsene as they whipped around the battlefield.

Clashes of blazing heat erupted, turning what was left of the fortress into rubble. Vast Mountain ranges and valleys had begun to be split apart, forming trenches that stretched far and wide.

Battling out for kilometers, I saw Iserth bend time both forward and backward, forming a paradox that seemingly granted him a similar ability to Arsene’s shadow step, albeit one with a deadly price; his body couldn’t take it.

Splitting apart the Heavens with their battle. Seven Gods battled against the Smiling Demon.

“He’s a damn monster!” Yerevan howled as Arsene appeared like an apparition. Foul as any Fallen, he pointed his finger, and from the tip of the finger, a ball of necrotic energy flared to life; mixed with the tarnishing essence of Abyssal Night, a ray of emerald hell exploded, blasting the large body of Yerevan away like a ragdoll.

Barely able to block, half of Yerevan’s skin began to melt like cheese off his bones. Howls of pain followed by silence followed, but everything had seemed like a planned effort, as from Arsene’s rear iserth and Rose appeared, their bodies glowing with strange runes.

“Now, this is rare; you don’t see people casting supporting spells like so as gods. Quite smart,” Izavith commended, “But—”

Arsene’s smile deepened as an eruption of Forsaken Qi whipped over his body, “Almighty Severance,” He said, as his spear seemed to curve like the great serpent of Ouroborus.

Everything happened so quickly that I couldn’t even grasp what had happened. The moment his spear moved, I lost sight of it.

“Mephisto’s Battle Artes. A Blessing cannot grant that,” Izavith coldly said, “A blessing can not just give you a battle style either. Those two! Arsene and Mephisto tricked everyone. They were Master and Disciple. They had to be! There’s no way that Mephisto would just teach anyone that!”

“Eh? That’s—” I hesitated to continue and watched as blood spilled like a river onto the ground as four limbs from each person slipped from where they once were.

Lowering the Spear of Noctem, blood bubbled from the tip of Arsene’s lips as he stared at the bloody and unconscious body of Iserth with a smile. “A fine battle, indeed; this would have been a grand battle were you a Chaos Lord!”

Slipping his spear back into his soul, his smile receded. And his gaze skimmed over the four still capable of battle,

“Take them and run, and don’t stop.”