Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

A battle against Bael… Now that doesn't seem even remotely fair. How the hell does one even fight against that? And it's not even one of his fake shadows but the real him. That's horse shit!

Putting aside Bael, these trials worried me; despite Izavith's involvement, I am sure to survive the Trial of the Body. But the soul bothered me. Despite devils using souls as fuel in spells or cultivation, the soul itself was a complex anomaly that not even my bloodline revealed to me. Baphomet had shown a bit but nothing like stages. At this point, I am only making it strong just to make it strong.

"Let's get started; I assume time dilation is impossible for the body trial?" I asked, and Zax nodded.

"Correct, plus it will be nice to hear your screams in real-time. The sweet sounds of your torment will be sweeter than an infant's final cry."

"Jesus, too much!"

'I'm an authentic devil, not like those bitches you fuck around with; I take pleasure in others' torment. Age is not a factor," he crassly responded, snapping his fingers.

And at that moment, I found myself back in my courtyard as a wave of pain came crushing into my pores. Holding back the torment, I eyed the cauldron of hellfire, tempering my flesh; I sucked in a deep breath that felt like a cold gust of fire entering my lungs, tears filled my eyes, and a slew of coughing resounded.

"Let us begin," Zax indifferently said, and the Ring of Bael suddenly hummed to life.

Unease crept into the back of my heart as I peered down at the bloodstone, slowly losing its light. Narrowing my eyes, I sucked the bloodstone back into my soul when Zax's words sounded in my mind.

"Oh, it's a little late for that. The only reason I spoke to you so long was just to charge the Ring of Bael, which is as old as Iluthath. Now with a fully charged Ring, we can get a trial that is at full power. So please do die for me. Let's save everyone their time."

Anger flared to life, bobbling over in the pit of my stomach; I stood on my two feet and glared down at the Ring of Bael.

"Do you think that was wise to test me?"

"What? a fourth dimension, little bitch, whose greatest accomplishment is killing to little shadows of true princes of hells? Yes, I do. I'm not here to baby you or fall on my knees and worship you. I am here to temper the bitch out of you. To make you a man, a devil that is as smart as he is graceful." Zax coldly said, as a dense scarlet mist oozed from the ring of Bael, crackles of black and gold lighting danced along its arch, causing all the hairs on my neck to rise.

Fear festered like dry rot in my heart against my will; when I began to hover off the ground, still locked in my cauldron of torment, I soared past the clouds higher and higher past the various layers of the atmosphere till I found myself at the rim of the exosphere. Just under the sun's glare.

"I would say to withdraw your flames of hellfire, but with that level of pride of yours, I am sure your thoughts are along the lines of, I can take it. This trial shouldn't be that hard, and I could not agree more, " Zax said sarcastically. "Let's see who breaks first, your mind or your pride."

"Stop talking, and just do it," I coldly uttered, arching my head high, " And you're right, I will leave these flames of hellfire up. The faster I become invincible, the easier my life will be."

The golden arches of lighting crackled, turning even brighter as it devoured the vibrant light of that accursed star. Sweat dotted my brow as the unease within me swelled, but I didn't lower my flames. I could take it.

I COUlD TAKE IT!

"Commencing Trial of Three: Body," Zax indifferently said.

Seeping into the cauldron of hellfire, I felt abyssal laws and Infernal laws coiled around each other, fusing with one another, causing my cauldron to take a new form. I gulped.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM~

As if an invisible hammer struck against the cauldron, a shooting pain so intense. So dark ran through my veins, zooming to my heart and then my soul. And a trickle of blood gushed from my nose.

A sharp cry exploded from my lips, and my back bent as a powerful pressure lingered over my skin and bones, pressuring my organs, causing the pain that should have come and gone to remain, clinging to me as though we were lovers.

There was no time to think, much less act when the clank of yet another hammer against the cauldron erupted, and the pain tripled. The hammer fell again, and again and finally again until my cries erupted in an endless symphony.

"Since I have full power, I think we will go for the maximum time; let's see, this trial time limit is two thousand years, but as the Arbiter of this trial, I will change it to seven. Let's burn away that pride."

"If," I started, bearing the anguish I dearly wished to stop, more than anything, I spoke through clenched teeth, " If you think this will lower my pride, then you got another thing coming. I am Arsene Fucking Snow! If my little brother could withstand the Nines, so too can I!"

Zax chuckled before bellowing into laughter, " Zariel Snow, the Silver Devil, wished for nothing more than to break; he begged and begged for it to end. But that is to be expected from a child with the mind of a six or seven-year-old who was cast into the Hells. That was Zariels greatest punishment the heavens granted him. The fact that he could not break. You, however, will."

I sneered as tears of blood trickled out of my eye, and blood gushed like an endless river. " If he can do it, so can I! Bring it bitch!"

"It's only been ten seconds," He calmly said, startling me, as I had thought hours had passed, " let's hear what you have to say in seven years when the torture touches upon the Mortal Dao of Torment and then the Concept. Only then will you understand the level of torment your brother faced."