Zantar - Monarchs

Hurrying with my fist clenched and my expression turning darker by the second, I stepped through the waterfall that hid a towering golden gate.

Nothing was making sense; how was that possible? How could he have… What happened in the Temple of Eternal Darkness. He was supposed to have one, possibly two; we could have even dealt with three. Why has his history matched the one of the Silver Devil, the holder of Concepts?

Two concepts or three allowed one to gaze upon the weave, which allowed just about anyone to begin comprehending other concepts. But they were simple concepts, never have I seen anyone with Ancestral Concepts, like Chaos, Supreme, and that last one stirred me; it just didn't make sense to possess. I am sure there was no previous prince of darkness who mastered even the basics of that particular Concept; it must be Arsene. It must be his attunement.

Walking the halls that were a grand sleek of silver that covered even the decore, I felt a familiar aura grow stronger. Holy in nature, but there was something that caused my skin to reel. My footsteps had come to a halt as I came upon two men.

One was seated in a small pond in deep meditation, while the other was situated by his side, like a loyal knight.

"Zantar?" Balor uttered heavily, "What are you doing here. It's not time yet."

"I know, Master." I replied, shaking my head, " But—" Balor's expression darkened as I continued, " Arsene possesses all seven Concepts of Darkness."

"What?" Said Balor eyeing me with a look of scrutiny, 'Are you here to fuck with me? This isn't a game. Raziel has completed the Laws of Concordance, Zantar. all we are waiting for is the angels to begin cultivating this power. Everything we need is at our fingertips."

"I saw it with my own eyes, a Temple of Absolute Darkness from the power of Arsene. He's done something that I've never seen before."

"I SAW HIM! I WAS THERE!" Balor barked, lunging at me like a graceful panther, snatching my collar, " What the hell do you mean you saw it? I saw him grab two of the dark stalagmites that housed the C—"

"Master?"

Balor looked at me as a realization I was missing struck him."There's never been a King of Darkness, has there."

I nodded, " of course not. Tenebrae has never chosen anyone."

"We've all seen the past Monarch of Light, Arthur Pendragon. He was chosen by the previous Monarch of Light, Laevis. Arthur had to walk into a light pillar where he was said to choose which Concept he wished to learn. It was similar to when Demon Lord Ifrit gifted his disciple the Trial of Fire to become the Monarch of Fire. It was similar but a little different, wasn't it?"

Recalling back to when we were nothing but children, all those chaos cycles ago, I could not help but remember a young man with long red hair and eyes that shimmered gold—a renowned Lord who chose the Concept of Destruction marking the Age of Fire for all of creation. He was one of the few that those of the Myriad Heavens pulled out of the Fourth Heaven due to his infamy.

"What if the trial was similar because of the relation between fire and light? We assumed everything that happened was the same due to the similarities, but none of us know what these ancient ghosts saw. The Monarchs had never spoken about the trials they faced. Even Arsene, for some reason, I was able to bypass everything he went through and made it to the heart of the temple. Arsene, however, wasn't. He struggled and struggled."

Then, a dark revelation struck me as Lord Balor continued, " Arsene was to be King of Noctem, which separated him from the other Monarchs. That alone leads me to believe that, unlike the princes of darkness, or previous Monarchs, Arsene was granted all seven. He only needed to touch a single shard, and he would have all of them. we were tricked."

"Elysium is the birth base of all Monarchs; it was there in the Sea of Elements that the Pathways to Monarch was developed," I said, sucking in a deep breath as Lord Balor released my collar. "Each Pathway was stolen through the ages and molded into something spread across the Twelve Realms."

"If Arsene has Seven Concepts, and he doesn't kill himself with them, then we will need to accelerate—Wait, what made him use Seven Concepts? That major reveal might have given him an edge against us."

"A Devil by the name of Drar and his seven Generals attacked," I answered, shaking my head," the seven generals all died and were devoured by the spear the boy holds. It was brutal, but it's the last Concept that worries me; I refuse to believe that any other monarch could have cultivated it."

"What was it?"

"The Concept of the Abyss," I gravely said as a chill danced along our spine.

"The Abyss is technically a place of darkness; it's the originator. At its core, you should expect the Abyss." Balor weakly said, but we both knew this wasn't good. Nothing about this was good.

"What does it do?"

I shook my head, " Identifying is easier due to the effects of concepts on creation and dao. I could see it there but could not understand what it does."

"Each concept can only do one thing, but I can't begin understanding what it does."

"The Arbiters, we need to speak to them; we need to seal Arsene fast or—"

"Lilith Snow is currently attacking them, and even if we attack her now, we might fail, as there are two potential Chaos Lords by her side," I argued

"Then we are going to kill them now! We'll sacrifice that husk of Baphomet; I want them alive! Gather the first-class angels. We need to kill them all! Now!"

"And Arsene?"

Balor sucked in a deep breath, " Once he opens the Gates to Iluthath, we kill him. He's become too much of a threat, same with Lilith; I'll take my chances in Arcadia to build our armies against the Fallens and Angels by myself. While you're at it, take out Asmodeus, as well; he has the Throne of Darkness; I want his head by day's end. And his wife. Devils are too smart for their own good sometimes."

I gave a half-smile, took a step back, and bowed, " by your will, my Master."