Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

So that was Zantar. How strange. I don't believe we ever had the honor of meeting. Arsene had said that he might be the cause behind everything.

The Fallen Angel that never fell from the Grace of Heaven, Zantar.

My lips parted in shock as I tried to feel the sin that should be lingering around his body. But under the bathing light from his wreathed wings was his Seraphic Qi. It was overwhelmingly pure. It was the purest I had ever felt, almost staining my inside with its grace.

I knew that the Fallen held onto their Seraphic Might even after they fell, but how could it remain so pure? Untatined despite Zantar representing what it means to be impure. He was the embodiment of the sins. Should he enter the Hells, I was sure the Nines would welcome him, going so far as to present him the throne of those that came before.

My fist clenched into a fist, and I dared not linger. If this Zantar truly is a Fallen, with a full version of the Laws of Concordance, there is no hope of defeating him. None. Angels are simply our bane. While the same could not be said about the angels. The only weakness they held was towards the fallen. But even so, was Lucifer not almost felled by Michael?

A harsh breath clung to my chest. None of this simply made sense to me. What was the aim of Zantar? Working alongside the angels couldn't benefit him so much, right? Why allow Raziel to take the throne? Why force a war with us. The Law of Concordance that those angels follow is incomplete, and the only one I know with a complete version was Einar and maybe Zantar. Why couldn't he give them his copy?

"You're going to give yourself a nose bleed if you keep thinking like that," Leviathan warned, stepping to my side, a few hundred kilometers away upon a lone mountain.

"What do you think of our chances?" I said, sending a gaze to Baphomet, eyeing the fallen.

"When we killed Aithan, he wasn't a fully realized Fallen. But despite two paragons battling him alongside Baphomet and Azeroth, we almost died," Levithan gently relayed, shaking her head. "Aithan was but a God-King at the time. Still, his Seraphic Might shatter whatever powers we held. I don't think I had ever been so frustrated." her eyes landed on me. " I don't think we can win. It's not just about bloodlines and bodies. Simply the change in mindset makes the fallen ten times more dangerous. The way they hold a blade is changed, the way they move. It's like they become two different people in a single instant."

A pang of panic rippled down my spine, " I remember."

"Asmo, you are the only one of us who possesses any idea of what they were like beforehand, in the forgotten era. Surely there must be—"

"There isn't a way to fight against the Angels when they have the Law of Concordance within themselves," I said, stating the cold, blunt truth. " If it was just Raziel, we were fine, but against a Fallen. We are fucked. To the angels, we are but human mortals. Defenseless and weak."

My heart felt hollow by my own words, but they were the truth, pointing toward the skies just past the angels gathering. A bitter smile skimmed over my lips. "Look there. You recognize them?"

"The Ethereal Realm is here," Levi broadcasted, her tone turning colder.

"Yes. A once neutral realm. Yet here they are. The Ethereal Realm was one of the sole realms almost unaffected by the memory wipe. They lost a few things, but as the recorders of history, they had long ago pledged not to choose a side. But it seems like they have turned their back on that pledge."

"So, what can we do?" She asked, turning to me.

Meeting Levi's gaze, I smiled, taking a seat over the limestone. "We watch. Right now, Zantar will keep his cover, and in order to do so, he will not stand out too much. As for why I don't know, but this gives us time."

"For what?"

"For you to find Arsene and Lilith," I said, releasing a sharp breath. "They need Arsene for some reason. And with that artifact, just maybe Arsene will stand a chance. We can't do anything with it. We were foolish to enter the abyssal labyrinth in the first place back then. Some things simply need to remain in the abyss. There was a reason it was banished to the unknown. Object that even those of the higher Heavens fear usually enter the Abyss." I added.

"It could cause an even bigger problem—that shard. If that shard were to enter Arsene's hands, Asmo, I assure you the Arbiters will in full wage war against him. Iluthath will burn, along with the Exalted Wheel."

I smiled and shrugged. "We won't be here."

Levi-chan leaned closer, her gaze brewing with a deadly light. " and what of our daughter."

"A devil needs to learn to fend for themselves. We granted her everything. If she dies, well, we can always try for another child." I coldly brokered.

While I didn't want Ezra to die, I had long since prepared myself for her death. I was a devil, the ruler of hell. All of my Kings had wished to kill my daughter before her birth. The very fact that she even made it this far was already shocking to me.

"You know the new one would—" I paused, deciding to play to her envious nature. " The new one would be far stronger, brilliant, as we wouldn't even be in this fold of Heaven. Its true potential would far exceed even us."

My arms wrapped around Leviathan's supple waist and her cheeks flushed as I gazed into her deep azure eyes. "So? What do you say? A new kid. A new Heaven. At the cost of a daughter who might not even die? It seems like a good deal to me. We can even correct some of the mistakes we made with Ezra when raising the new one."