Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

There hadn’t been much talking after my deal with Zariel; everyone was fast asleep as night approached.

I leaned my hair out of the carriage as the soft winds billowed against my hair. The eyes of every soldier who stood on guard had taken the time to flicker their gaze toward me.

I did not need to peer into their heart in order to get a general idea of the fear they felt; at my stage, I could just about feel the terror coiling off their skin.

They were like little maggots who didn’t even know how close they were to dying. It would take a single step, a single touch, and I could steal everything there. I could sear their eyes close with my sigil. I could break their will in but a single—

“Arsene?” Lilith softly called

Drawing me back from my thoughts, which felt like a dream, I smiled and glanced at her. “Did you do it?”

“Uh-huh”

“That’s good. With everything happening, we’ll be ready when the festival ends.” I gently informed, as Lilith only stared at me with an odd gleam.

“You ok?”

“Hmm, if I say yes, would you believe me?” I asked, a little bewildered why she would ask that.

“I’m not sure; you seemed a little off tonight.” She responded, and my head turned to look at the faint image of the woods leaving us behind.

“I’m going to miss that cabin,” I said; closing my eyes, I reached into myself, to where my soul and astral force resided. Seizing that power that was mine to wield, I pushed out my divine sense, which I’d not been using due to my limitations in this world, opting to use the darkness as my eyes and ears.

Feeling the laws of the abyss touch upon me, as my soul covered over seven kilometers without issue with the added help of Astral Force, the path of abyssal night flared to life. The runes over my wings glowed, gathering abyssal essence and so much more like an infinite black hole.

Devouring everything without making a big scene, I felt the back of my throat run dry, just like old times when I needed to go on a hunt. Letting the projection of my soul in the material plane process all the information for me, I turned to look at Lilith’s worried expression.

“Want to go on a hunt with me?”

“A hunt?” she repeated.

“Hmm, I think it’ll be fun; it’s been a while since I’ve had anyone.”

Lilith stared with a little complicated expression. She folded her arms and frowned, “I don’t mind but are you sure your feeling ok? You know we’re connected, right? And I can tell if something is wrong. But who’s the target?”

“Marquess Yor’fenli,” I revealed, watching her eyes turn wide.

Honestly, it didn’t matter who it was, but I figured a little revenge was just what she needed—worrying about the images of my time in hell isn’t going to help anyone.

“As I’m still at half power, same with you and your injured right arm, I figured we’ll be able to kill him if we join forces.”

“Didn’t you defeat Drar?”

I bearly smiled. ” Not really. Believe it or not, controlling the hollowing was a fluke. It’s a fifty-fifty thing. And I’d prefer not to use it. It’s a powerful ability, but I need time with my soul still being injured.”

“Then why not wait?”

“Because I don’t want to wait. I’m tired of always waiting. Bael, Asmodeus, Levi, Paimon, all these devils are not waiting, and at our level, we can’t afford to wait anymore. I’ve got the power to kill just about anyone, and I’m going to take advantage of it.”

“You know they’ve got the same power, too, right?” She countered, with glowing eyes, ‘ I’ve seen your battle with Drar, and not once did he use his Concept. Nor did any one of the Fallen grant him a blessing. You didn’t win, Sene; you don’t even know how to use your concepts correctly.”

My brow creased.

“First off, supreme, why weren’t you using that to compliment your speed or attack power? That Concept allows you to be at the highest peak in a single attack. However, I’ll warn you that it’s suicide to apply to your cultivation, which has many moving parts. You need to focus it down to, let’s say, your spear or single spells. It’s the same with your Eternal Concept, do not use it to merely raise your cultivation temporarily; use it to make your flames indestructible.”

Listening to Lilith’s wisdom, I pulled out a bottle of wine that had been in storage for over half a cycle and poured us each a glass.

“Continue.” I calmly said, smiling as her words pushed away the dark thoughts racing through my mind. 𝓫𝒹ℴ𝓿𝓵.𝓬ℴ𝓶

“Most concepts are destructive to the user if you’ve not figured it out. They are not like your Qi. They only have a single purpose, so if it’s the Concept of Severance, it’ll cut you and anything else it meets, including other Concepts. This leads me to Chaos, a somewhat useless Concept to anyone but Zariel, who gave you his blessing.”

“The Weave. I need to be specific with the Concept of Chaos.” I murmured.

“Yup, do you know how worried I was when I saw you use it? Had the Concept of Chaos touched you, which it should have, you would have died, no questions about it. Your Forsaken bloodline saved you by ensuring nothing touched you. Using Chaos as a Defense is stupid, as it’s too dangerous. In fact. Using all concepts as defenses is dumb unless you have to.

“I guess that includes the Concept of Devouring?” I remarked, thinking closely about how such a thing has been a part of my life.

Was withering not a part of the devouring process? Even now, I am devouring angels and demons’ souls inside me. Which was supplying me with not just the memories of those I killed, but their experiences, the emotions, all of it was becoming mine.

“Sene, I think you’ve understood what I’m talking about by now; most Concepts need to be separate from the body or weapons. They’re simply too dangerous unless you’ve mastered how to use your Forsaken Qi which is so powerful it could resist the Concept of Chaos.”

“I knew my wife loved me. My baby treats me right. But you never answered me.” I then said, leaning close. “Want to go on a hunt?”