Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

The blood of the rivers had long risen to my knees, drowning the non-believers. I had used the blood of the children—the blood of the lovers and the blood of those they worshiped to wash away their belief. Master had given me the order, and all I could do was answer his call to arms.

Nothing was off-limits, he had said. So I held nothing back. Age was but a number, after all. In almost every form of society, it is the young that people will wish to preserve. So that is where I started to those who did not immediately surrender. I had commanded the faceless to do the same as I.

For those that took more than a few days to give up, I would simply kill off and use time manipulation to accelerate their growth, making sure to influence these people in the name of Vaevictis. It was a disgusting job, but none of the faceless had dared to question my order.

They were all demons Lord Arsene had created long ago in the war to retrieve Lilith. And during his long quest, he had managed to sear away the very meaning of life from these faceless. All they knew was to honor their King. To bow their heads and praise his name.

Lord Snow was very liberal with his divinity. All those in the lower realms that worshiped him were blessed with a sliver of his Darkness. Tainted by the power of Hells, or maybe it was Shadowfell. Who can say? I don't know. But those that had gained his blessing of Darkness had gained a massive spike in comprehension. And their very bodies had begun to change—growing stronger by day.

They were not Shadowfell, like Freya nor me, but I felt like they were being prepped to be. Not even Lord Arsene knew of this. He was simply granting blessing, but his power was tainting the very core of these people. Maybe these mortals were too weak, living where Qi of Heaven and Earth didn't even exist. Nevertheless, once we grant these lands Qi of Heaven and Earth, these worlds will soon begin to rise.

Glancing at the baleful aura slowly racing over me, I clenched my fist. There were many reasons why lower realms were off-limits. They were the only ones with parallel realms. Messing with one could lead to their deaths. This was not just a sin against the Court of Nox, but the Heavens. Pulling a single planet out of the infinite cycle was akin to killing an almost infinite amount of people. But it was not my sin to bear. The heavens, at times, are fair.

Master will soon be the one carrying this Baleful aura that reeked of hell on earth.

"Lord Mimir, we have finished with this planet. The Soul Stones are full." Said a Faceless.

"You know the drill; head back home and deposit the souls. Why are you telling me?" I coldly questioned, but the Faceless simply saluted.

"Sir, we wish to contract the Hells. Seven percent of all souls that die in the passing of our terraforming, in return, we collect the endless amount of copied souls of the Parallel Worlds. Soul Stones can only hold so much. We are actually gathering less than a percentage of the total profit."

We were definitely crossing a line. A line that had everything in me screaming not to continue. But Arsene would not care. I could see that greed in his eye when he looked at us. He will only see an endless supply of souls to devour. While they will do him nothing, Shadowfell still benefits from the soul we collect. We carry both the demon's and devil's abilities.

"Do it," I muttered, "But nothing over three percent. The hells need balance. And what is three percent of infinity? Guess we will find out if some higher power puts a limit on us. Steal what you can." I coldly commanded. "And do it quick. before we are stopped."

Qi was the bane of these lower worlds; once you apply it to a single mortal realm, you break it out of the cycle. Its a shame as this would have been an infinite cycle of divinity running through our organization.

In the following months that passed, I could only feel like I was drowning under an endless river of blood. They say killing a man will cause you to lose your humanity, but I say killing worlds like so was causing it.

Bitterly smiling at what I had accomplished, I snapped my hands. Creating a Gate of Night, I stepped through without hesitation, returning to my sister's side.

Entering her bed chambers, Freya opened her eyes and frowned, "You back? So soon?"

"You should know how effective I am. It's been six months. How are things." I grimly asked, peering out from her room at the strange object in the heavens.

"You should not be here, Mimir. Your aura will taint Master." She calmly said.

"It's bound to happen. And Lord Arsene will be fine. He is more a devil than any of us." I swore and chuckled at her worry, "It's only the lives of mortals. Have faith in your King. Where is he, by the way?"

"Deep cultivation. Blood is about to fall over this Land. Ygg is currently with him, teaching him a few things. Ready your weapon and armor." She declared, and my eyes narrowed. "A warlock like yourself will be more than welcome."

Tossing Freya a black soul stone, heavier than a star, her expression turned dark, "You carry the Infernal Artes, use them. All of them require souls, right? I am sure you have been studying them like I have these past hundred years since our rebirth."

"Master was wrong to ask you to do whatever he asked you to," said Freya coldly. LIfting her scarlet eyes that hummed with firey essence, "Everything has a price, Mimir, you know that better than anyone."

Crackling in laughter, I touched my chest, coiling with this baleful aura calling out to my Master, "Nothing is off-limits." I quoted, flying off the balcony towards Master.

Sensing his aura a little way outside the castle, I soared towards his position and stared at my Master, gripping a wretched spear, holding onto a scarlet glow. Stirring my soul with his presence, he shot me a look I would never forget and beckoned me close.

"Come,"