Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

"Lilith darling, you look like shit!" I whispered within the ears of the young woman with long silver hair strung up and stripped like cattle. With large hooks piercing through her ribs and limbs, ensuring escape was not feasible. "Did you hear the good news?"

With her head still low, I shook my head, "Come now, darling, if you don't listen, I will have the Kasvor Worm enter your skull once more... Hearing your sweet, captivating screams is starting to sound like the bells of the silver city. Captivating and... seductive."

Receiving no response nor recognition, I did not grow impatient. Arsene was already within my webs. Clenching her hair, I jerked her gaze to meet mine, watching a smirk grace her magnificent appearance.

"You know he is going to die. Don't you? There is no way for him actually to overcome this trial." I cruelly stated, trying to get a read of her state of mind, yet aside from the smile that had never left her lips for the past five years. Even in the midst of torture, she never once made so much as a frown or whimper. She screamed; however that was the extent of what she gave me... something genuinely unacceptable.

Whether it was using the Kasvor Worm to twist her reality, making her believe she killed Arsene, her family, or her own child, nothing seemed to phase her. Invading her soul was suicidal even for me, the abyss protected her on that front, but aside from throwing her into the nine hells, I had no physical or mental way of breaking her, at least for now.

"Shall I told you the story so far, Lilith?" I lightly asked, matching her expression. "Arsene has started a large war on a scale even he cannot contest against. He is an enemy of the Aesirs, Vanirs, and Giants. Everyone wants his head, yet he held a meeting today in hopes of finding a map. A map I placed within the depts of the Bloodied Association."

Capturing a subtle, almost non-existent movement, I continued without emotion, "You see, when Arsene reaches there, he will not be ambushed like most would think. No, he will be free to travel all around the temple, he will marvel, he will learn, he may even make an ally although doubtful with that blasted personality of his, but at the end, he will curse the nines."

Unable to close her eyelids I had torn away, I watched her gaze slowly come to life with a vibrant flame, one filled with hope.

"He will soon discover, Astrid is currently on Midgard and will..."

"Sitri," Lilith, for the first time in five years, spoke, "Do you know why Arsene is Arsene? Why the last lord failed?"

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"Time, efficient understanding, and he underestimated the boy." I confidently answered. "And a shit load of luck."

"Luck?" She said with a smile, "Did you know an angel was there?"

Feeling my heart shake, I frowned, remembering no such thing from beginning to end... No angel would be mad enough to enter that realm, not to mention there were entirely in the blank regarding the existence of Arsene."

"Confused, aren't you? So was I when I first saw him speak with Arsene. he froze time, space, and all of creation, yet I was exempted. Nevertheless, I too was still a slave to its power, unable to speak, only allowed to follow the flow." Lilith weakly said, her lips curling up. "I am sure you are thinking over the billions of possibilities, but I shall not say."

"Does it even matter?" I questioned, "you have said enough for me to guess who or what appeared."

"True, but it brings up a question why Arsene? Why did the FLames of Hellfire choose him? An existence as old as the Nines themselves."

"Luck."

"Is it? Can one be so lucky to acquire something like the flames of Hellfire?"

"So, what do you think is the reason?"

"You tell me, Sitri, the reasons you're here, the reason for the trials, are they not about the Flames of Hellfire? You are interested, aren't you? You, along with many others, did not think a mere human could acquire such flames if even they are flames. This trial is merely a setup; whether Arsene comes out triumphant, you win. Because his death is not your true goal, but gathering information regarding the flames is. This is only a bonus for you."

Releasing her scalp, I released a mighty roar of laughter, quite impressed. "Correct girl, everyone thinks of me as a monster, they are right, of course, but I did not get my position simply by being cruel. That would not impress your father, not in the slightest."

With silence gripping her throat, I continue eying the cold, gloomy dungeon dripping with the scent of filth. "But how does knowing what I am after help you or him? I could not help but ask, my gaze returning to the bloody goddess smiling towards me."

"Everything comes with a price, Sitri. You, of all people, know that. Arsene is coming for me, and what do you think the price for what you have done will be?"

Blasting her jaw from her body with a ruthless slap, blood gushed over the filthy pavement,

I snorted, "Price? Girl, you underestimate yourself and me. I stand at the highest order. What more can that boy do?"

Showing no reaction, my heart suddenly trembled as Lilith's entire body suddenly began to overflow with abyssal energy. Watching all her injuries vanish and the various hooks within her body turn to dust, I frowned as she landed on her two feet, gazing indifferently towards me.

"If you think that, then continue, Sitri. But how about we make a deal? The Pale Gate, for your sixty legions within hell?" She asked, shaking my soul.

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"You... no, your bluffing you do not have the Pale Gate," I replied in a solemn tone. There were only a few places Lilith and Arsene have been to, and I have been to all of them. Narrowing my gaze upon the woman still smiling, I resisted the urge to tear her head off. "It's quite the offer, but I have no interest in the Abyss."

"Then what about the blade you saw me use, Morningstar? Father was quite captivated by it. and I was sure you yourself were watching, were you not?" She asked, fully knowing I was.

"What are the terms?" I inquired, arching my lips.

Raising her head, dark robes began to cover her naked body as she stepped past me, "Shall we discuss this over a meal?"

"Whatever my lady desires."