???

Blazing an infernal color of red, I watched on with a calm mind as the eyes surrounding my being studied me. Sending the hairs upon my neck on end, I stood tall and proud, wielding Pride with a chilling heart.

"Who are you?" I coldly asked, tightening my hold of Pride. I don't know why I felt the need to summon it. But something in meed demanded that I draw it from its cage.

Not hearing a reply, my brow dipped when the scent of blood caught my nose. It wasn't fresh, but it also wasn't old.

I turned towards the city that appeared to be a mix of gothic fantasy. It was immaculate. And it would look perfect within Noctom.

"Master, what is this thing? A demon or Devil by chance?" Adrian mentioned holding onto his spear.

'Lily, do you know?" I saw to ask the most knowledgeable person I know.

"Nope. Remember, Iluthath is old. Far older than you can possibly believe, and this Eternal Winter isn't helping the secrets of this world from awakening. If this was Mephisto, he might have kicked up a storm."

"Why the hell is Iluthath so special?" I couldn't help but ask.

Just getting to Iluthath was a pain in the ass. But it's so strange. Mother was clearly a Higher Being to be able to hide her presence from the Angels and Fallen like Mephisto. Zax had emphasized that point on multiple occasions. It didn't make sense that so much shit was happening to a realm in the Fourth Dimension.

What the hell made Iluthath so special?

"Arcadia is a shadow, Arsene. It's a shadow of the Myriad Heavens, and more importantly, Iluthath is a perfect shadow of Arcadia." Lily said.

"I… I don't understand. A shadow?"

"I have no idea why The Abyss, and The One, decided to use Iluthath this way, but Arcadia and Iluthath are directly connected. They are separate entities, but Arcadia is Iluthath's shadow, and Iluthath is Arcadia's shadow."

"Like two sides of a coin."

"Yes, but one can live without the other… Iluthath only exists to keep Arcadia at bay. To keep it separate from the Myriad Heavens and the Abyss. You can say that Arcadia is trapped in the shadow."

If that's the case… why? Why not have three major exclusive realms? The Abyss, The Myriad Heavens, and Arcadia? Why hide Arcadia? Is there something to fear? No… if there was, The One and the All would have interfered. Why the games?

"Do we leave, Master?" Adrian asked, turning to me with an uneasy grimace.

Noticing Kuro jump down with cold dark eyes, noting the eyes surrounding her, she landed on her two feet with ease and looked around before turning to me.

"I placed the horses in the shadow realm to run wild. I'll summon them when we are ready." She said, staring at me with a curious eye. "By the way. What's up with the creepy eyes?"

"No idea. But it's beginning to annoy me." I replied dryly, releasing a sliver of killing intent from my heart.

The scarlet eyes gleamed, sparkling with amusement as they vanished one by one.

So there is awareness in the user. Interesting.

Giving Kuro a head pat as she continued to stare, the little girl shot me a delightful smile as she hummed, nodding in delight.

Never understood the joys of head pats, but they were dangerous. Everyone liked them. At least all the women around me did. A weakness, perhaps? Biology?

"Kuro… you make the call," I told her as she held the spot I patted. Kuro looked up at me, and her arms dropped.

"Me?"

"Hmmm, Adrian took me by surprise a moment ago. Seemed he had learned his lesson. You, on the other hand. I want to see your survival instincts."

The foxy ears of Kuro twitched as she nodded. " then I say let's leave. Now. "

"Oh? Why?" Asked Adrian

"You have Pride, a weapon that can cut through anything. Same with my Lord. Same with me. Not to mention Master has armor from higher realms. There is no reason to risk our lives. Not to mention My Lord here drew his weapon. Not Noctem. But rather Pride. I fear that we might have overstepped into territory neither of us was ready to—"

"Smart woman." A grimacing voice echoed through the void like a demon of the night, sending chills dancing through my core like a dagger against my neck. "I've already cleaned up. So do take a look."

"Ves!" Lily squealed, jarring me from my thoughts as I focused.

"Give us a minute Father. And you can come. One minute."

"Father?" Said both Kuro and Adrian.

Counting the seconds that felt longer than a year, I shot off my feet using Almighty Flash to the best of my abilities. Time froze as the snow rained downwards through the large hole in the skies froze.

"To slow, father. Next time though." Ves remarked with a chuckle. " And don't stay too long. I'm sure Lily will clue you in as to why."

Pausing my foot as a mountain of bodies, both old and young, woman and men, girls and boys, lay in a massive pile of death, I froze as Lily bellowed.

"Leave! NOW!!!! NOW, NOW, NOW!!!!!"

"Lily, What are you.'

Hairs rising over my body, I shot backward as blood gushed from my eyes and mouth, spilling over the ground as black veins tarnished my veins. Pain washed over me like a thousand cuts as I groaned, staggering backward as my vision spiraled out of control.

"All of them, Arsene! All of them are Fel! Leave. There is nothing for you here."

A wordless cry of anger sounded from my throat as I raced back, finding Kuro and Adrian rushing towards me.

"Don't touch them." Said Lily coldly.

"We're leaving," I told them, shadow stepping onto the surface above with blood ebbing from my mouth.

Allowing the pain to wilt with the numbness of the cold, I spoke. "Lily, explain this shit now!"

"When the Fel die. They give off this miasma. A toxin that will kill just about anything from the Three Great Realms. Not even the fallen are immune to its toxin."

"But how is the Fel even here?"

"... I do not know." Said Lily darkening my mood.

Clasping my hands together, I gave a soft prayer, causing the light to fade and the icy world to tremble. Darkness sprang over the cloudless skies as a lazy eye Fallen appeared.

"Disciple!" Mephisto childishly shouted. " What can I do for you? Is this about the Pale Lord?"

"No… It's about what's down there." I pointed. " Why are there Fel in the Myriad Heavens?"