Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

“The boundary is the only settlement between the three layers,” Yuval had to answer as Zolveck turned his back to hide the tears ebbing down his cheeks. Even so, the sounds of whimpers hit me a little differently than I expected.

I’d never thought of Lilith leaving me, much less doing something so fucked up. We’d been together for so long. Even from here, despite multiple heavens separating us, I could feel her calling out for me. What if someday she just goes mad? What if I go mad and kill my children?

No one thinks it’ll happen. But my god, I don’t even feel anything aside from the occasional joy when I kill someone or torment them.

“Oi!” Lily shouted. ” Get out ya’ head. I swear. You’re giving yourself a devil’s heart. Deal with that shit on your own time… when I’m not here or a part of you.”

Reeling in my emotions, I faked a smile I was sure was bitter and spoke. ” I only see one major land mass.”

Yuval nodded. “It’s because of the Dead Laws. You never really know what you’re looking at. We had a friend who accidentally ran into a sword. The blade went straight through his brain, killing him before he felt anything. You can never trust what you see.”

“So? Will you assist me?” I soon asked, noticing Zolveck trying to gather himself. “I need to get to the center of the—”

“The Center? No one goes there.” Said Yuval sharply. “Only death exists there. Even the Paragons don’t go there.”

‘I’ve my reasons, and I’m more than willing to allow you to join my army within the Eben Forest.” I quickly directed.

While I do feel for this man, putting emotions in business is never a good mix. Plus, I now know what he wants. I could make this man bark like a dog if I so wished.

The greatest lust is one of revenge.

“Whatever you need,” said Zolveck calmly, bowing his head, as Yuval stared me dead in the eyes.

That man… he’s like Mimir. He’d make a wonderful addition to the Shadowfell. Although, he’s kinda dumb outside schemes.

“Boss, why don’t we—”

“Head to the Boundary,” Zolveck softly said. “I’ll guide the Monarch to the inner region.”

“But.. ”

“Go!”

Yuval bowed his head, and with a step, he was gone.

“I know nothing is ever free.” He said softly.

“Your right. But for now, just lead the way.” I said, and Zolveck reached into his left pocket and pulled out another talisman. “It’ll keep you injury-free till we get the inner grounds. ”

Tossing me the Talisman, he took off as I followed behind, matching his speed around the speed of sound. Weaving through the many trees, hours began to skim by as I noticed the protection this Talisman brought.

But for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out where I’d seen these runes before.

“Lily, do you know what these runes mean? I can read them, but I can’t name them.”

“Like their origin? Hmm, there form the second Layer of Hell. It’s a type of devil language created by the Lilim. It’s slightly different from Infernal, as it’s usually reserved for the Lilim.”

“That’s what it is! Goodness, you’d think I’d remember such things with a photographic memory.”

“Your not a mortal anymore. Words and Images hold power. Remembering magical things meant to fade from your mind takes effort to retain. Nothing is permanent.” Lily conveyed, but her words sounded as if they were being wasted on me.

“Where here!” Said Zolveck sharply, coming to a halt near a specific line, cut with intent. “This is the border that separates the outer from the inner. It’s dangerous in here, but—”

Releasing a slew of Forsaken Qi, the laws around me receded as they began to break apart, more so than they already were.

“Head to the boundary. I’ll contact Freya and Layla to allow you and Yuval in.” I said before I shadow stepped inside.

I still had many questions but—

“Arsene the Monarch of Time… he’s close. I think he’s heading towards you.” Lily warned.

Looking around as the laws clawed at my forsaken Qi, I only narrowed my eyes, thinking I should have done this sooner.

“He doesn’t concern me,” I said as I pushed ahead with another shadow step, followed by another, and then another. I whipped through the inner region, trying to focus as the laws progressively grew denser and tighter the closer I started to get. In the following minutes, an enormous pressure began to weigh over my shoulders, cracking the very ground beneath my feet.

Sweat oozed from my brow as the sun’s rays began to affect me physically despite the laws being disrupted by my Forsaken Aura. 𝘦𝘯𝑜𝘷𝘦𝑙．𝑜𝑟𝘨

Catching my breath, as the weight only grew, I flashed with the darkness before noticing nodes of silvery light hovering in the air like stars.

“I DID HIM A FAVOR KILLING HIM LIKE SO!!!” Shouted Aldrich as I reached for the nodes of light.

“What is this!”

“Memory Fragments of what was said in the final battle,” Lily muttered.

Reaching for another node of light, Zariels icy words rung into my heart. “You killed my brother, so I’ll kill everything you hold dear. Starting with her!”

“Amazing.” I voiced, noticing millions of nodes glimmering as far as the eye could see. “Their battle was so intense the world retained a historical video.”

“It wasn’t the world, but the Historians of Time, the apparitions from the Ethereal Realm recorded the last of the battle of these two ancients.” Came a steady voice from my rear. “The battle was so intense that no parchment or mind could retain such information, so they branded it into the laws themselves.”

“You seem to know a lot,” I said without turning around to look.

“Not as much as the Monarch of Darkness. I’m sure you know far more than I do. The Ethereal Realm has an entire shrine dedicated to you.”

A swift chuckle escaped me as I looked ahead at the pillar of light, a day’s journey away. “I never knew I was so popular. Has the Monarch of Time taken an interest in me?”

“But of course… Tiamat speaks quite fondly of you.”