Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

Covered in the ashes of war, burning my eyes, I glanced back through the woods at the hordes of demons and devils that covered the skies. It had been a week since twenty-five Hell Gates had opened worldwide. And things were not getting better.

Unable to help myself, I snapped my head back to the virtual image of Mephisto as he worked out a deal with Lilith regarding the parameters in which they are allowed to run wild in this world.

When I found myself beginning to be covered in sweat, a tingling sensation made my skin crawl.

p It\'s starting again.

"Burn this forest down!" A booming voice resounded from the Marquess. "I smell a rat."

Wiping the blood trickling from my nose, I sucked in a deep breath and closed the holocube. I had only wanted to see who the Fallen were, and I had.

There wasn\'t a need to continue; Lilith would inform me later.

Tightening my grip around my spear, I figured it was finally time to leave. I had initially wanted to see how bad things had gotten after I escaped the encirclement, but never would I have thought the Hells were so terrifying.

Despite my insane battle prowess, I almost died against those using the blessing from the Fallen several times. One or two would not survive long against me, but a squad of twelve or more did damage.

"Heed my call, Demon Lord of the Nines, Belphegor." Marquess Yor\'fenli howled in the skies as his crimson eyes turned a greyish hue.

My heart seized in surprise as I felt a different power from where the devils gather their power. This power wasn\'t gentle, wasn\'t tamed, but was instead wild and rich. It reminded me of Baphomet.

Marquess Yor\'fenli growled, and his skin turned a bright red as he vanished, and my spear whipped behind me, meeting with steel, as the Demon appeared.

"DIE!!!" Yor\'fenli bellowed, cleaving his greatsword down. Hastily sidestepping as his blade whipped a hair\'s length away from splitting me in half, I reacted in a tranquil riposte, as my palm was quick to act as it pierced through the concept of space and time, with a sliver of almighty power, crashing into his chest.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

Watching a mist of red life force cover my vision, a scream of a pig to the slaughter cried. Missing his lift arm alongside half his chest, I glanced back as I felt something else coming closer when suddenly, the body of Yor\'fenli vanished.

Startled, I felt the Dao of Illusions hook its way into my mind.

"A Heavenly Lord, battling against an Elder God, you\'ve got a lot of nerve, boy." Marquess Yor\'fenli coldly said as he appeared from out of the shadows.

Sweat streamed from my pores as I glanced around, noticing a few hordes of demons coming.

"Belphegor is a Lord of Soth, is he not? A demon."

A/N: I\'ll make a list of Demons and Devil Lords like Belphegor.

"He was a demon but became something more upon severing his chain to Mother," Marquess Yor\'fenli proudly said. " His power is said to rival the Fallen." The Demon drew closer and continued, " And with the power-struggle changing due to Lord Asmodeus\'s foolish decision to let us rise to power, it\'s only a matter of time before we Demons begin slaughtering the Devils."

"Quite the confidence," I slowly said, gathering my Almighty essence within my soul. "Are you sure you can handle a devil?"

"You sound like Asmodeus, but have you not wondered why Baphomet was so strong or why even Asmodeus respected him? Demons are not what they appear, boy." Marquess Yor\'fenli announced, a little ignorant that I already knew the reason.

Lilith had made the Demons as a way to kill the devils in case they got too strong, but she also had made it so that the Devil\'s reproduction was somewhat small compared to their counterpart. There was a balance, but even she was ignorant of the grand powers of a Demon.

According to Bael, it was a demon who was the second to become a paragon, then an angel/fallen. Even the Fallen respect the Demons on that point; they were monsters if appropriately trained.

And the only reason why Belphegor was one of the few demon lords to escape Lilith\'s grip was that he was once an angel who died during the First Battle, known as the Battle of End. Where Lucifer and Michael once fought.

I\'m sure that this idiot didn\'t even know this, but the Angels had their own specific Reincarnation pool. But when Belphegor had died, as he fought alongside the Angels, he was fueled with so much anger and hate he fell from heaven. And was soon reincarnated as a Demon, yet somehow retaining the powers of a Fallen. To say he was an aberration amongst the demons and Fallen was an understatement.

Holding my breath and pretending to look surprised, I spoke out, " Tell me about him."

"Maybe when your soul is within my palms but today is the day you die, I\'m afraid." Marquess Yor\'fenli remarked; unfortunately, by the time he had finished, I had Shadowed Stepped, breaking myself into several different clones.

Ripping off the ground at full force, all of my clones began Shadow Stepping to escape the Marquess.

"ARSENE!"

Ignoring the scream of my glorious name, my mind fused with the darkness as I teleported far away.

"Shit! That was close!" I uttered and teleported a few more times.

It was never my intention to run, which is why I\'ll never master Ren Shii; that requires matching my enemies\' power head-on, but saying and doing are two different concepts. That bastard was an Elder God, at god knows what stage.

Releasing a deep breath as a few days passed, I glanced back at the ever-dark skies covered in flames, with the shadows of demons and devils appearing.

"Times are changing." I weakly said, into a large open spring. Feeling the abyssal qi hidden deep in the lake\'s depths, I closed my eyes; as I felt my wounds slowly beginning to heal, I fixed my gaze up at the demonic shadows.

"How would you like my blessing again, Disciple? I\'ll even take it upon myself to reteach you, Black Sabbath."