The Boundary

Zolveck grunted with a smile and slowly landed alongside Yuval, whose expression was red. A look of interest branded over his face, he dismissed his sword with a flick and nodded.

"Continue."

Lifting a single finger, nodes of darkness awakened and congealed into a sigil. That made Yuval's eyes wide. The young man staggered back, drawing Zolveck attention.

"The hell am I supposed to be seeing?" said Zolveck with a questioning look. "And what the hell is wrong with you?"

"Zol. That's the Sigil of Noctem! How do you not remember? A Monarch was crowned a cycle ago! There's this massive hunt for him! Some groups are even offering Chaos Drew for him!"

Am I that famous?

"He's not the Monarch! He's probably someone from Noctem." Zolveck summarized, waving Yuval off. He snapped his eyes to me. "What's your name."

"Arsene Snow, King of Noctem, and the Abyss. You may refer to me as the Abyssal Sin." I kindly mentioned as the scales over my flesh began to glimmer with the attunement of the Abyss.

"Horse Shit!"

"This one's an idiot." Said Lily giggling inside my mind. "Oh, and the Monarch of Time is moving. I can feel the law turning."

"Your not serious!"

I stared him dead in the eye with an icy glint and didn't say a word. And seconds, a look of realization, followed by perspiration, trickled down his brow. Zolveck backed away and clasped his hands together.

"I-I-I didn't know," He stammered to say.

'I'm sure you didn't. Not many do. But I'm asking—" I paused, feeling the ringing of my Holocube in my soul; I frowned. " Sorry. Give me a second."

Summoning the Holocube, the image of Freya and Layla appeared with cold faces.

"My lord." Started Freya. "There appears to be an army gathering near the Eben Forest. Leading them is an Abyss Walker Elder God; behind him is an army of a hundred thousand strong mid to High God."

"Do you know who he is?"

"He carries the Crest of the White Phoenix."

"Lord Varis! The Lone King is after you!" Zolveck shouted. " Holy Shit! Wait, you must be in the Eben Forest. That's his territory!"

I sneered and gave a chilly smile."I'll speak to Zariel to see what's going on with the Abyssal Fiends situation. For now, fortify defenses. Freya, you are to stay out of combat. I need you fresh to take Aldrich's position. Layla, you will head the army in my stead. How is Darkmane?"

"Brooding." She answered darkly. "All he's doing is wetting his cock these days."

"Typical." I spat, rolling my eyes. "Whip him into shape. I want a warrior, and I don't want to lose a lot of soldiers so early." My eyes shifted to Zolveck, who was staring. " What do you know of Varis?"

"Everything. Varis used to be my boy. We used to raid together when we were younger. But he inherited a Legacy of some sort and left. Tried to kill me once when I stole from one of his caravans. Pompous ass."

"... You're a bandit?"

"Ever seen anyone walking around half naked or without robes that weren't a bandit." he rebutted, and I nodded in agreement. I hadn't.

"Boss. If it's Varis, then Zarla is on her way; this could be your opportunity." Yuval interceded, losing his silly countenance. "We could use one of the Seven Rings in the boundary to get into the Eben Forest."

"Yeah… buts its costly," Zolveck murmured. " But for Zarla. I pay any price."

Seven Rings? So there is something that allows easy travel. It could be useful a little later.

"Layla. Have Victoria be your second in command. She's a literal killing machine. Contact me when the battle begins."

"But you said not to use her army," Freya suddenly said.

"I said not to use the Sect of the White Rose. Using Victoria is different. Put her ass to work." I answered and disconnected.

"Varis and Zarla, you said? Paragons yet?"

"Varis might be." Said Yuval, somehow taking the lead as his scrawny exterior began to fade with the deadly shift of his expression. He still looked the same physically, but his aura told a story of war and villainy. This man was a killer.

"Zarla is his wife. A Blood Elf, Elder God with mastery over the Blood Laws. I'm positive she'll never be a paragon. Due to her crime."

"Crime?"

Yuval looked towards Zolveck, whose skin seemed as pale as the dead, and nodded.

He sighed. "As a show of love. Or maybe insanity, who can say? Zarla, who had recently given birth to Zolveck's only child, decided it was in her interest to be with Varis after he obtained a legacy."

"Ok…" I eluded to a little unsure why he was telling me this.

Yuval's face crumbled as his fingers dug into his palm. "Zarla knew Varis… mentality of purity. And knew she couldn't just give up Zolveck and have another man raise her child."

"So she found a dagger, ran it through her daughter's neck, and gutted her as though she was a cattle."

"...What?"

"Varis had always been infatuated with Zarla but respected me. At least he did." Zolveck suddenly began. " But for some fucked up reason I don't even understand, he accepted Zarla's show of love. The two have been together ever since… I think it's been seven thousand Dao cycles since."

And they say devils are evil. She could've just given the child away. Tossed it into a river bible style. Damn.

"So you want revenge?"

"Want?" Zolveck smiled and chuckled. But I could feel the burning rage billowing from his heart. I didn't need to peer into his heart to know that this man was still in pain. "I need her dead, Lord Snow. I need her to pay for what she did to my daughter. Who'd not even seen a week of life."

Tears gathering into globs, he lifted his eyes towards the skies. "Have you any idea how maddening it is to hold your only daughter's corpse? To feel the cooling blood of her still body? To never hear her cry or see her smile or coo again? It broke me, Arsene."

… Lilith… would she ever do that? Would she just decide one day she'd… What the hell am I thinking?

Shaking my head, I sighed and pulled myself away from such thoughts. "This boundary. Is it like a settlement of sorts?"