Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

What the hell was with this child? It hadn't even gained a physical form. How can it feed on life force and heavenly qi without end? With the inherited knowledge I gained from Noctem, I had retained an enormous supply of information regarding the powers of various races, especially those without a physical form like my child.

Having children as a god is an unnatural event. It shouldn't be possible for the most part. Lilith and I were extremely fortunate in this regard, as due to our high bloodlines, it would have been impossible to create another child. Our origins were too powerful: Noctem, Hell, and the abyss. This child of our will have all three of the most remarkable powers in creation.

The Abyss already made our child a Paragon at birth, while the Hells will grant it a state of mind capable of rivaling the fallen and the Angels of Heaven. The darkness will grant it—

My eyes narrowed over my womb of Lilith, and a chill slithered down my spine, stripping the heat from my flesh; I placed my hands upon her stomach, and the pulse of the little one's heartbeat rattled against my palms. Thumping at unimaginable speeds, images of blood and ash spread across my eyes, and at that moment, I shuttered. Visions, fragmented and blurred, seemed to whip across my soul as my mind trailed to a strange land that stood alongside Iluthath. A land of Twelve Plane molded by—

The vision ended, shattering like crystalline glass, leaving only the thumping of my child's heartbeat alongside my own. Covered in a heavy sweat, I gulped, unable to grasp what I had just seen.

Lilith hadn't stayed awake long, but I held designs to wake her at the images of this strange world. Was there another Iluthath, or was this the past? Visions of what Iluthath once was.

I rose, haven't felt a coldness in myself racing down through my veins, leaving me hollow. Leaving Lilith in the darkness, I left the cave where Avar and Freya had seemed to be locked in conversation over the firewood.

My eyes lifted towards the skies, darkening, losing color, and then to Freya, "I need Vaevictis's Divine Artifact."

Freya stopped and turned to me for a long while, drawing everyone's attention, Cleo included. " You aren't going to wait? You can naturally breakthrough in a few days." She said, but it wasn't what I wanted to hear. "You—" My gaze hardened, and Freya's tongue fell short. "Forgive me," She quickly said, pulling out a small dagger with a curved fork shape blade. A deep shade of black, she approached and bowed her head, " Your grace."

When I created Vaevictis, it was to make an army to combat the Court of Nox. At its current stage, I had thousands of lesser worlds at my disposal to grant me divinity, or rather to grant my armies divinity. I had Noctem. There wasn't a need to be this greedy, but something in those visions had put my skin on end.

I saw the end.

"Master?" Freya uttered, her gaze fragile with a gentle glow. "What's wrong?"

I stared at my knight, unsure of what I truly had seen, but the sensation was more than enough for me. Something was coming. Something that I wasn't going to face, but something so ancient even my knees had felt like buckling.

My grip tightened around the dagger's hilt, and a raging storm of divinity exploded. Singing its raging song of war and death from all of the untold horrors Mimir had bought on.

I tapped into my connection to Noctem, and the praise of worship, love, and admiration came like a flood slapping over my mind. Divinity exploded, and the darkening skies seemed to hum to life, darkness—Abyssal Darkness howled. And the rain began, a rain of black droplets raining over the skies and Abyss.

The color of Heaven and Earth was eaten away, leaving a realm of darkness in seconds. Power, Might, Comprehension didn't matter, as a power within my soul pulsed to life—a concept of Ethereal Might.

"Arsene!" Avar cried, but the Rain drowned her words. As the Path of Abyssal Might called, to the abyss. To the ethereal darkness within my heart. Cries of my followers all seemed to ring in my mind, billions, trillions of drones calling my name. But they too were drowned by the Rain.

I took a deep breath, and under this state of enlightenment that I could never attain with Soul Force, the Abyss, alongside the Path of Abyssal Night, pulled into me. Heavenly Qi, Abyssal QI, Lifeforce, and the Seven Sins all bolted through my soul.

Shattering the barrier between Star-Lord, and Realm Lord, my Qi reeled with untamed power. It grew stronger, darker, taking on characters of my Path, alongside the Hells, a deeper understanding of what it meant to be within the lower realms.

Star-Lord, Realm Lord, and Heavenly Lord were realms that evolved the Qi, the Divinity that ran through my veins—pushing it to levels where the Qi would come to life. It would be the living will of my soul.

Devouring the divinity of Noctem, the Abyss, and The Hells, the Concept of Eternity, made sure the divinity would never end. I wasn't sure how I was using this Concept I gained in the Tower of Endless Darkness, but it didn't matter. The amount of divinity I was absorbing into my infinity ring had raged from droplets to rivers rivaling the Great Flood.

Low-Realm Lord

Mid-Realm Lord

High-Realm Lord

Slowly exhaling the long breath I took, my eyes opened, the rain ceased, and the world's color returned.

My eyes fell upon Freya beside Avar, and the other members of my group huddled together. Meeting them with a smile, I tossed the dagger that had barely been drained thanks to the Concept of Eternity that made my divinity endless.

"Ezra," I said, shifting to the young princess, " Tell me where the Holy Swords are. It's time to start taking over. With the angel's actions, I need to start taking down some of my enemies before they strike when I least expect it."

"I know exactly where they are," Cleo grimly mentioned, with a clenched jaw, " If you plan on killing them all, I want in. '

I chuckled, noticing the burning red of her eyes. "I'm afraid your intel is a little dated or did you forget that mist. Everyone has long since run to escape."

"We are close," Ezra suddenly said. "A week maybe less."