Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

Lifting my eyes a dozen of meters towards the horned beast that materialized, a smile marred my lips as vicious scars revealing pale white bones entered my sight. Glowing red with sword light ebbing from his wounds, Beleth growled.

"Arsene."

"MY LORD!" Howled Drar pivoting off his feet in a flash of demonic light. By the time my eyes slid towards Drar, He had appeared over twenty meters away, on one knee. His chest heaved as large globs of blood drained out of his body. Thick black webs of veins stretched from his chest up toward his neck. At the same time, the whites of his eyes had long turned black as he struggled not to fall face-first into the earth.

Lifting the small embers of the first Prince's Soul, a cruel smile marred my lips. " Do you think he was a Blood Lord? First Sitri, now Alzimar. How long till I bleed the hells of its nobles?" Beleth's expression turned hideous as he bore his fangs. " No need to behave like a rabid dog. Offer me your head, and I, your King, shall consider granting you a merciful eternal torment."

A/N: How does one have a Merciful Torment?

"Arsene!" Seethed Beleth as a tornado of divinity spiraled off the First King's body. "You will release his soul."

The smile on my lips stretched even higher as I slowly soared into the skies. Standing higher than that of Beleth, a Sinful Aura of Pride tainted by the Abyss wrapped around my body like a blaze of flames. Burning with a radiant aura that seemed more devilish than this false Hell.

Noctom grew arced towards Beleth, surrounded by a storm of elements. "Kneel… and I'll grant thee mercy."

Light flashes and explosions of demonic essence erupted in a pillar of devastation that splintered the skies and shattered the hells as flames black as night showered my vision as I parried Beleth's strike.

Jitters of utter delight hammered at my heart, following a slew of laughter that came off as howls. "So you choose death? Beleth, I shall break you!"

"Impossible!"

"So this is what it means to be a demon? Not bad…" I mused as the Concept of Supremacy spiraled around me. Information that I never knew, and experiences I never lived, all seemed to come at me one after the other.

Like I had lived billions of cycles as a Demon, a brutal strike of utter chaos and torment fueled by my madness, alongside the souls I held, took hold of me at that moment as Noctem blazed forth.

A clash shook the skies that rivaled those of titans and fractured the domain laws around me. Beleth was torn from the skies in a catastrophic blaze, striking against the surface of Avenos, splinting the earth, and piercing through so deep his body was bathed by magma.

Ghastly howls of tormented souls soared from up the Hells as they attempted to escape. I fell following the Dao of Light and Lightning. My body flashed like a bolt of lightning hundreds of times the speed of light. By the time I blink, Noctem was at Beleth's face, poise for execution.

DING!

"NO!" Howled the First King of the Nines, parrying my blow as divinity protected his body from Stormblade. But the moment our blade met, Storm of Heavenly Bind came crashing down.

Another pillar of light spiraled through the air as a vicious gash over the left shoulder of my doing appeared over a Paragon.

"This cannot be! NO! NO! NO!" Shouted Beleth making distance as I chased upwards back towards the surface of Avenos.

Embers of light black as night ricocheted off our blades as a whirlwind of sword light and spear light fused with storm light spiraled through Avenos. The ideas continued flowing faster as I felt I was finally using my demonic side correctly.

Suddenly Noctem froze in the air as a sudden shockwave held me in place. A force almost like astral essence, different, caught me. And I shuttered. But oddly enough, not out of fear.

???

Vibrations! Shit!

Shadow Stepping out of range, blood slowly began to ebb from my pores.

"I'm going to kill you!" Whispered Beleth, tightening the grip of his greatsword that slowly began to shift to that of a halbert, a combination of ax and spear. "I swear I'm going to kill you. I will not stand for this humiliation! I'll not stand for it! I'll NOT!"

"Words of a loathsome shit stain. Kill me?" I sneered, spitting as darkness attached itself to me, almost like it were my lover. It protected me. "You belong to me, Beleth? And a slave like you will not be permitted to have pride. Not before this King."

"Di—'

Shadow Stepping, my fist caught his chin as my foot whipped towards his temple. My first blow wasn't meant to blast him away; it was meant to do as much internal damage as possible. And applying storm blade to all my attacks was just a bonus.

A dazing light flashed through his eyes, but Beleth quickly recovered as he weaved around my kick. His halbert whipped towards me, but Noctom flashed to parry as my index finger caring a dreadful spear intent shot forth.

Actions and reactions suddenly filled our battle as wounds began to shred our bodies. Beleth was more skilled, but I found him lacking in a super close-range battle that required his fist. He wasn't quicker, and his schemes were subpar at best.

Paragon or not, I could foresee what he'd do and react. Each reaction I acted upon had begun to refine my instincts, and as the days flew by, I began to acclimate Sitri and Yesh. To help enhance this experience. I didn't know why but for some reason… I felt myself growing closer to something. The stage to Paragons was close, but I felt much more room to improve.

It felt like I was close to something else. The more laws I incorporated, Mortal and Heavenly, all seemed to push me to heights I never knew were possible.

"If you keep this up, Arsene, you'll be a Chaos Lord in a few Dao Cycles," Lily said to me as my blade clashed with Beleth, whose foot suddenly struck against my abdomen; he used the laws of vibrations to somehow transverse the space akin to shadow slash.

Blood bubbled from my lips as my organs began to be crushed under his monstrous strength. I staggered back but not before Heavenly Bind came from the skies, but Beleth was ready as he pointed towards me.

"Disrupt!"

"Don't use spells against a paragon if your not a Paragon," warned Lily. "He'll always have that advantage."

Blood exploded out of my mouth and noise as I felt a soul attack disrupt my mental incantation. Despite being instantaneous, Beleth somehow managed to disrupt a spell already cast…. He was attacking the link between Man and the Arcanes. Interesting. I need to learn that.

"Heal yourself. If this keeps up, you'll lose."

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