Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

"So you\'ve chosen death." I gently said, but just as those words left my lips, I saw a larger man in grey leather, sweat covering his brow. He lifted his hand and bowed awkwardly.

"Lord Snow!" He shouted. " We mean no harm!"

Well, this is a first. "This meaningless slaughter directed towards me tells me the exact opposite. I\'m no stranger to killing, but few who attack this lord ever make it out alive."

An ugly grimace stretched over the stranger\'s face. His shoulders tightened, and with a sharp pull of the air. He spoke, "We would never try to harm you, milord. The core was reincarnated over many Dao Cycles. Within that girl\'s eyes carry an object that belongs to us. Reincarnating objects is far more taxing and tedious than a lifeform, milord. Millions of resources have—"

"I\'ve no interest in the affairs of the Versi. "I quaintly rebutted. "Your petty problems mean as little as a pig in shit. And, you\'ve sullied my eyes enough today." I lifted the Atonement edge and pointed it towards the bulky man in grey. " Leave today and resume your hunt another time. I\'ll forgive this transgression this day, and your hunt for the Core in the eyes of this little one can begin in my absence. Clear?"

"But milord, the Core—"

"Are we clear," I stringently snapped, leaving no quarter, " I\'ll not ask again."

Sensing my intent, the man bowed, his face ugly beyond recognition; he took a step back. "As you command, my lord. We will retreat," he said through the gaps of his teeth.

"Retreat!"

Surveying the battlefield covered in demonic beast gorging on the fell of the residence, I couldn\'t be bothered to care. This village was free of all Versi, and the corpse below wasn\'t my problem. Although, I\'ll be taking all these souls.

Opening my palm, clouds of Soul Flames responded to my will and flew towards my palm before being sucked into my soul.

"You truly are a devil!" Lavos uttered.

"Bitch, is that the thanks I get? Last time I do shit for anyone. Ezra, let\'s go. Shameless fuckers here don\'t know how lucky they are to be near this king. I make the goddamn world taste better."

Spewing a few more curses, I waved my hand in the air taking my leave without another care.

"There bowing," Ezra muttered near my ear.

"What else could they do? This king was feeling magnanimous. It\'s not every day I\'ll save someone. Shit, it might just be the first." Staring northward, I smiled. "Plus, I think we\'ll be seeing those three again."

"I don\'t doubt that, but for the Versi to fear you is amazing. Are Monarchs so feared?"

I smiled, narrowing my eyes, " Well, it won\'t be long before Noctem is truly feared on Iluthath. The realm will know… Pain."

—

Cutting through the mist, blocking our path for a decade or so, as we traveled through the Guiser Plane. Annoyance danced over my mind. I like cloudy days, but it was way too damp here! My god! Walking for a damn minute made me feel like I was in a pool.

"Master!" Ezra suddenly shouted, pointing towards the skies. " Look! Is that—"

Her voice went still, and as I turned to look at her, my eyes widened as I caught her falling body. Amazed, I peered into her soul, which appeared to have been shocked by a powerful force.

"Careful, Arsene. You need to be more guarded." Lily suddenly said, " Higher Laws and Abyssal Laws are present. If you overstep, you are Dead." She paused, then sighed. " And before you ask, Higher Laws is what occurs when the laws become so packed that they begin to overlap in Subspace aka hyperspace. I don\'t know what you use in the myriad heavens. But they are essentially laws that can be one or two layers higher than your current Heaven."

"Which means what exactly?"

"Why did I get the downgrade? I miss the twins… its means that any elemental spells or Artes you use will pierce through your defense. You will die if you think you\'re invincible. Higher Laws aren\'t supposed to exist in this Heaven, but rather in the origin realm or higher."

A frown slipped over my lips. "I can adapt, so I\'m not too worried, but is this common in higher realms?"

"In Arcadia, I\'ve seen it a few times there. So I\'ll say it was common, but I\'ve no idea. Higher Laws usually cover a specific area, so be careful where you step. You wouldn\'t want someone to cast a death spell on you."

Slapping Ezra\'s cheeks to awaken her, I kept every word of warning from Lily inside my mind. But… But what type of battle happened here that killed Law and used Abyssal Fragments?

This reminds me of Richter. That soul that is possessing him is it not a Chaos Lord? Can he force the Higher Laws to appear?

Turning Ezra\'s cheeks red with my palm, the young shadow fell open her eyes, with an ashen exterior.

"Master?"

"Be on guard. Higher laws are present. I assumed you gazed at one without the necessary defenses and fainted." I explained, lifting my eyes towards the pillar of light Ezra had pointed to before she fainted.

Reaching past the clouds, my eyes widen at the dozen or so land masses seven times larger than mountains covered around the pillar of silvery light.

\'What the hell! Is that!"

Wide eye. I sucked in a large breath when a brutal force struck my chest, ripping the air from my lungs.

"Zariel did that? Holy shit. And here I thought I was near the peak!" I softly said.

"Of course your not. Everything was supposed to go from God King, battle prowess, to chaos Lord then Paragon. Have you any idea how ridiculous you can get as a chaos lord? Literally! You can create life out of the purest dao. Real life! The shortest record to be a Chaos Lord is about 22 Chaos Cycles. At the same time, the longest is over a thousand. You\'ve got one of the best cheats, and don\'t use it."

"I do?"

"Gods, I miss your children. I swear, out of everyone, you need a system. You\'ve got Lilith! Jackass! You\'ve got the entirety of the abyss behind you. They are walking Chaos Lords, all of them! If they use into the Abyss."

Lily released a long sigh, and I just about felt her frown. " Look, I\'ve been looking through time and space for a while, trying to gather as much information as I can. And maybe it\'s pride, maybe it\'s not, but you\'ve not been abusing what you\'ve been given. Your wife, for goodness sake, is a fucking Avatar to the very abyss! Do you know what you can do with all that power?"

"My God! Do you know what Crowe did the moment he appeared in Arcadia? He crashed, landed in the Princess bath, had her fall deeply in love with him, and abused the shit out of her! Have you any idea how many death threats he was getting? Unless Lilith says, she\'s uncomfortable with it, abuse that shit! Good damn, your a man, right? I bet you abuse her pussy! Tell me I\'m lying! You pumped two kids into her! You better abuse her authority while you can!"

"None of your enemies are playing fair, Arsene. None of them. The Teleth will only grow stronger… and there are more to come. Races that\'ll make immortality look average. You\'re a Monarch now, a Sovereign of Night. Act like it."