Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

"Arsene, are you ready," asked Yura, her seductive body wrapped in a skin-tight black suit. A look of excitement gleaming from her as she gave a dazzling smile.

"...Why are you so happy?" I asked, trying to hide away the growing dragon between my legs. "We are trapped in a castle with heavenly ranked beings."

Covering her mouth, she beamed, her amethyst eyes glimmering with radiance. "I always wanted to behave like a thief. I have read many stories about mysterious masters breaking into a majestic castle to steal the most price possessions." She stated, trembling with glee.

This girl is going to the death of me, but it's better to have a monster like her..." Fine, but please don't do anything stupid. Is the other's coming?" I asked, removing my shirt.

With a curious gleam, she eyed me up and down before lowering her gaze after a second. She shook her head, "No, Zef and Nora souls are still in a state of confusion. It will take a few more days to recover. The same with Winfor."

Nodding, I donned the Nexus armor from Yura and Zed before looking out at the massive door before us. "Shall we?" I asked as darkness coiled around our bodies like small serpents.

Slowly peeking through the door, I rushed out, closing the door tightly. Yura nodded before pointing towards the bottom of the castle, "We need to head to the bottom; the Flame should be there," she lightly whispered,

"Or At the top in the hands of a God-ranked beast," I countered with a cynical smile staring up coldly. "But maybe you are correct; let's head deeper down."

With a bewitching smile, I could see Yura shiver as she shot forward. Hiding behind various decrepit vases or walls trying to hide from...Well, nothing as no one was around...It made zero sense. Realizing she was a bit of a weirdo, I sighed, following behind.

Yet things only got weirder as she began crawling on the floor when there was no reason to. No one was around; we were not being sneaky in the slightest but rather making more nose even with my darkness.

"Damnit, Yura!!! Keep it down, " I yelled in a hushed tone.

Puffing her cheeks, she snorted as if insulted at my comment. With another sigh, I finally realized what was wrong...She had fucking 8th-grade syndrome, the gotdamn chūnibyō blessing. A curse most Otaku's suffer from, shit even now, I sometimes behave like that.

Getting amused, I eyed her magnificent body, dressed in her skin-tight outfit. She gave off a biker type of feel as she crawled on the floor, on all fours looking left and right in a...straight hallway. Ignoring that fact, she slowly got to a corner before rising seductively behind a wall. Her ample buns pressed against the wall as she stared around the hallway.

Was I this retarded when I went through that phase...God, I hope not.'

Following behind, enjoying the view, Yura and I slowly made our way through what we believe to be the castle's eastern segment. A few guards quickly fell to Dragonsbane as they were not at the level of that Blood knight nor the beast we fought in the forest. Yet, everything changed as we arrived at a black door.

There was a scent I had not smelt in a while, the scent of human flesh...and it was fresh. Looking at Yura, she drew her blade before we slowly opened the door without making a sound.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH" Wails of anguish suddenly filled our ears as we gazed at the bloody sight before us. Our feet were soaked in blood and gore as we took a step in while hundreds, if not thousands of body parts from man and beast littering the floor in an area that looked like a dungeon.

The scent of rotting flesh and sulfur filled my nostrils as I frowned in disgust. Yura quickly covered her mouth and nose as she quivered.

"Hold it in," I whispered in the darkness. "Not here; they will smell it,"

With a teary look, Yura swallowed as she clenched her teeth, "disgusting." she muttered inwardly. Yet somehow, I didn't think she was talking about the bodies rather the vomit she swallowed.

"Some of the blood is fresh. We need to take it slowly, Arsene. Something about this zone is frightening." said Yura with a hint of apprehension.

With a nod of my head, Yura silently took the lead. Slowly we began exploring yet, with each step we took, the blood quickly began rising before it was to her knees. Not being deterred, we kept moving. The blood had not risen, but we never dropped our guard.

Pausing, Yura suddenly covered my mouth, pushing me into a wall as we hid behind a vase filled with webs and pestilence.

"Zoor, How are the new catch of the day," an elegant-looking man dressed in a black suit asked, his jet black long hair elegantly wrapped in a ponytail. At the same time, a set of small circular glasses hung on his nose. "It's been a long time since we got anything fresh in Galvez."

"Lord Dromore, they are currently being prepped, but I questioned if they will be of any substance, my lord. They are just poorly talented mortals at the lowest stage of cultivation," said Zoor, with a slight bow filled with disdain.

"Blah, who cares? As long as they taste good, I will be happy. It's been hundreds of years since anything good arrived."

WIth a sharp stare, I removed Yura's soft hands from my mouth. 'We need to move from his location. Move quickly, Dromore seems at the stage of that Blood knight." I muttered, compressing my words down with demonic qi.

Taking the lead, we sneakily departed in the opposite direction of the duo, making my way deeper into the dungeon with Yura following behind, making sure to remain out of his peripheral vision.

"GHAAAAAA" More screamed filled my ears as Dromore suddenly turned in our direction.

However, Yura was just as quickly using her 8th-grade syndrome instincts we dropped into the river of blood and guts without making a splash. I could feel a scrutinizing glaring coming from Dromore as he slowly walked away.

Waiting a few minutes, Yura took a peek out, sighing in a breath of relief. Wiping the rotting pieces of flesh and blood from my face, I spat in revulsion. This was disgusting, the sauce had all but stalled and brown in some areas, and the meat was growing with puss and worms.

Gripping Yura's hands, who seem to about to ball her eyes out, we traveled deeper into the dungeon. Watching in horror as hundreds of beasts and demons were being tortured and experimented on. We watched as a fiend force-fed a fellow demon his own brain as he screamed in pain. Slowly becoming a simpleton, by the 8th bite, all that was left was a broken toy, opening and closing its mouth in repetition.

More and more sickening scenes were slowly entering our minds before I turned to the teary-eyed girl. Her shoulder trembling as tears fell from her blood-stained cheeks. I was a psychopath all be it on the low spectrum of the chart but, Yura was not. It was clear as day that she had never seen such a disturbing sight.

"We can't stop, Yura." I lightly said, patting her soft head, "It's hard, but we must keep moving."

Pulling her arm, we came upon a strange chamber; the scent of brimstone was not present but rather the rich smell of fresh blood seeping through the walls. We could not hear the screams of tortured souls but a sort of whimpering as we stepped in.