Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

(A/N: I shouldn\'t have to say this as this novel is fucked up in many ways. but it gets offensive near the end of this chapter.)

Awakening to the world around me, blinding saturated light flashed like a blade through my eyes. Wincing at the sudden attack, I lifted my head towards the cloudless skies, unable to believe so many years had passed.

Seventy thousand years of torment that coldly ended in my failure; Wishing to stand, I scowled, noticing that I was stuck. Almost like I was still bound on Bael\'s throne. Knowing that was probably the case, I groaned and connected to the holocube within me.

Scanning all the information that came like waves pouring into my mind, surprise and annoyance all seemed to trickle over my heart. Asmodeus was indeed successful in pushing the angels back, but we are losing men, lots of men. To a point where the Kings and Princes had to start recruiting on the battlefield. But as strange as this was, Levi, who I knew came along, didn\'t seem to be a part of this war. Leviathan was missing.

My lips sunk at the thought of her being missing for so long, but I also knew that this war would last millions of years. The Angels and Demons had fought before; they understand how the other operates.

Diving deeper into seventy thousand years of information, I saw that there was indeed one of my army\'s bases located a few days away from this fortress. I even had a few spies around me.

Connecting to Asmo, I couldn\'t have been happier to see another familiar face, "As-BROOOOO! I\'ve missed you!"

"Fucking Arsene, Lilith said you were getting fucked by some demon. It seems you retained some sanity."

Sanity? That\'s a funny word.

"How\'s your ass?"

"You live in hell; I\'m sure before the great change, someone was fucking you, quite literally." I gleefully remarked, unable to help myself from smiling.

"I\'m a devil of lust,"

"But not a demon," I swiftly chimed in, " Demons don\'t give any shits, but devils. Devils do care. You are far more prideful than those primitive brutes."

Asmo\'s eyes sunk, and I knew I got under his skin. Was it really so easy to disturb someone\'s heart like so? I wonder if Zax knows anything about Zantar\'s past? That could be somewhat helpful in battle.

"Keep testing me, boy,\' He said, glaring profusely at me. "Baphomet became a Paragon, and so too did a few other kings."

Knowing it was only a matter of time, I nodded, not in the least surprise, " How\'s his injures?"

"Grave." Asmo revealed, shaking his head, " Seems something had taken Zantar by storm. He showed up again and decimated Baphomet. Were it not for Aldrich, I don\'t think he would be alive."

Was it about Yu Jing? He didn\'t go on a rampage when it happened, so I guess he is also trying to clone or create a new being from the bodies of the denizens of the Bed of Chaos. That could only be the reason for his rampage.

"Let\'s see now. You are located at fortress… Oh, shit."

"What is it?"

Asmo looked up at me with a bit of delight, "I guess you haven\'t heard of the Army of Seven," He said, smiling.

"I\'ve heard of the band of seven," I said, recalling that old anime. Ah, good times.

"The Army of Seven are Seven God-Kings from the Badlands. They\'ve been spotted near---"

*BOOOOOOM~

Alarms rang like bells as black smoke and ash rose from the skies, covering the glare of the twin suns. My heart hammered against my chest as hundreds of thousands of soldiers began to mobilize all at once.

The skies became clouded with starships that hummed a blaring noise that made my ears want to bleed. Howls of commands kilometers away began to fire off like a gun, one after another. At the same time, various formations began to reveal runes that stretched far and wide, burning with a regal domineering aura.

In seconds this fortress had come to life.

"Looks like things are getting wild over there," Said Amso, taking pleasure in my predicament. "They should only be in the stages of Empyrean, but—"

"But what!" I snapped.

"But I\'m sure once they kill everything in the fort, at least one of them will become a high god."

"That is bull shit!" I shouted, " What happened to requiring Divinity to grow, to have subjects too—"

"It\'s the Badlands, Arsene. The Laws there are so intricate and fine that they have remained unchanged since the Great Change. They don\'t need believers; they just need to kill."

Bloody fucking hell! Why the hell have they come at such a bad time? I literally can\'t move.

"I don\'t suppose you\'ll help me?"

"Arsene. Son-in-law. " he said back to back, " I\'m a little busy here. I\'m sure you can deal with it. You\'re a man, right!?"

"Asmodeus, dont\' you dare!"

Placing his hands to his ear, he nodded, "what\'s that, Levi-Chan?

"Levi is missing!" I desperately joined in

"Sure, honey, I\'ll be right there." He said as a blatant lie, turning back to me, " Sorry, bro! I got to go. The wife an all, you know!"

"Oh, you son of a bit—"

Hanging up before I could finish, unease bubbled in the pit of my stomach twisting and turning as I gazed down from the center of the fortress towards what seemed like the north gate. When suddenly, a sharp pang pierced into my spine.

I grunted as I almost felt my heart stop within the Spear of Noctem. Confusion twisted through my mind as everything slowly began to turn bright and lighter. Hearing the phantom beating of my heart picking up pace from the depths of my soul, everything around me began to slow: The Cruisers hovering in the skies, the smoke rising in the north, the sounds of cicadas buzzing about in the winds.

"Look at that," A voice so slow reached my ears as I slowly began to lose control over my perception of time reached into my mind. "A double whammy. You got an army of insane bastards at your doorsteps, and now your trial is about to start. I\'m just asking, are you sure you paid your debt? Because you might just be the unluckiest bastard I\'ve ever seen."

"I—"

"Please don\'t talk. You\'ll just sound like a retard. And nothing bothers me more than a retard who can\'t speak normally."

"Ass—Hole"

"Yep, you sound straight retarded. Cheers to this Army of Seven, slaying you!"