Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

"So, how are you progressing?" I asked, leaning onto Freya's and Zanris's demonic cave wall. Eying the various devices I'm sure they had to create, my disgraced knight turned to me with her head down.

Eyeing the Petri dishes and the unspeakable creatures in large test tubes bubbling in an emerald liquid, I shifted my gaze to Freya.

"Well, my lord," She answered, turning to the equipment, "with the technology Avar gave us and my witchcraft, I have begun analyzing Yu Jing's bloodline. We just need a few hundred years to have the results."

"That long? Can we cut such time in half or more with time dilation artes?"

Zanris shook her head, "We need real-time. When dealing with the Dao of Time, every other dao becomes unstable and will mess with our results. And even so, Time Dilation is downright impossible for us, as none of us are proficient in the laws of time, to do it in this Abyss. Maybe in our realm but not here."

I'd figured that was the case.

I'm sure Zantar is in a similar boat as us. He, too, needs us to open the Gates of Iluthath. For better or worse, we are in the same position. Yu Jing's death screwed everyone. I don't need to say anything, but I'm sure he will slow down the angel's quest for blood.

"So, what will you be doing in the meantime?"

"We will start with cloning, but we will only make a dozen or so; most of Yu Jing's blood will be injected into various subjects. I have already begun sending out some of the members of the Tempest family to look for them. Most of our time will be spent prepping the women for experimentation. Speaking of—" Freya lifted her lifeless red eyes to meet mine, "We need resources."

"What kind?

Various kinds, m'lord. I'd like for you to make an order in the Holocube for anyone and everyone to begin gathering whatever resources they find. I'd have Avar's or the Tempest Clan deal with the transport."

A bit of a frown could not help but lean onto my lips, "How long do you think all this will last?"

"Millions if not a few billion years, at latest a cycle or two," Freya said, dipping her head in fright.

Am I some monster? Why the hell is she so scared? Whatever. It doesn't matter, not when she has so much work to accomplish.

"it'll be done, whatever you need. Anything else?"

Freya turned to Zanris, who shook her head, and I nodded, "Good. Then I'll leave it all to you."

Allowing the darkness to swallow me, I appeared in the middle of the village, watching the now blistering village filled with children and various men and women. Letting the darkness engulf me again, I appeared in my courtyard, a little ways out of the village, stationed on a large hill that allowed me to look down upon the town.

The sun was still unbearable, but there was something I had begun to notice since my arm got Tarnished and that whatever my darkness swallowed was filling me with a large abundance of Divinity that was eating away at the laws, breaking them down into fuel for me: This went for the light, the darkness, the air. Everything that I hadn't already Tarnished.

And it scared me, as I hesitated even to toss a Soul Flame in.

Devils could absorb souls to get bits of Divinity, but it wasn't much, and it wasn't a reliable method of gathering Divinity. I could break down the soul to its core and feed off its endless power, gathering Divinity each day like I am doing now.

However, If a soul core could free me of my depth, just how strong would I become if I were to devour a soul, core' en all? While I have fate in my body's ability to adapt, I dared not push too far.

"First things first," I muttered, turning to face my big ass house; the clan heads granted me, although I did feel a bit insulted, it was so far away from the general public. Plus, there was only one Maid, and that was Jinx. Not that I'm complaining. I got a badass MILF Ninja Maid; who can complain? Bounce Bounce Bounce!

Sucking in a deep breath of icy air of the coming winter, I released a sharp breath and pulled out the severed half of the bloodstone Lilith gave me yesterday. Lifting it to my eye, I felt an insane amount of energy racing through its veins, filling me with unease that such a small stone that was cut in half could potentially kill me in a single pulse of energy.

Lilith had made a small seal rune to stop the bleeding of qi, but I felt amazed that such a small thing could be so dangerous.

Crossing my legs in my courtyard, I continued to glare at the stone. There was nothing I had to do: nothing but train. For the first time in a long time, I could do whatever I wanted. Asmo and the others were in the midst of war, with their mission, and I had completed mine. All the chosen ones were now in the house in front of me.

While getting to Iliah was important, as it was the epicenter of everything, going there as I am was a death sentence. Snapping my fingers, a cauldron of Flames crafted by the Flames of Hellfire covered my body. Blazing with multicolored flames that held almost every element I could think of surged around me. Controlled by one of four fragmented souls I held within me, I felt a sting of pain building by the second.

"By the time I awake, I need to be immune, not resistant to every element. The only thing that should be able to damage me is Qi and physical strength." I said to myself, already dreading the coming pain.

If Lilith thinks she will be able to defeat me, then she will have to step her game up. I'm fucking Arsene Snow; the only one who can beat me is ME!

Crackling in demonic laughter, I clenched my fist over the bloodstone, and my gaze shifted to the Ring of Bael.

"Now it's time for you. You had better be worth it."