Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

A long silence resounded.

Mephisto was staring, as was Lilith, waiting on my response to this new mission that honestly granted me anything I would need, but I was hesitant. Mephisto and even Zariel weren\'t someone I wished to work for, ally or enemy.

I feel like one of them wrote the book about being a devil. Those two have a way of abusing people; not to blame them for that; I\'d do the same thing.

"If, and I mean if, I were to help you, could you tell me now what\'s wrong with my body?" I said, probing for a bit of information.

He smiled, narrowing his scarlet eye filled with the cardinal sins, " Why its simple when I took you to the Hells, your soul adapted to the core of reality; look around you. Doesn\'t everything feel fake? Doesn\'t it feel like there might be people watching you? Like somehow you can perceive people observing you like you were in a movie or a book?"

A/N: It\'s like breaking the fourth wall.

My soul trembled as I nodded, and he continued, " Well, that\'s a particular truth most people figure out once they\'re ready to go to the next Heaven. Basically, Arsene, your soul is so developed right now, akin to a newborn coming into the Origin Realm. Sure it\'s fragile, but you have the right to enter the origin realm at any given point. Is that enough information for you?"

"We\'ll do your assignment!"

"YAY!!!" squealed Loki, " Me and you, bro. Give us time to bond. You to Lili, care to see who picks up more bitches?"

Lilith arched her delicate cherry lips and slid her fingers over her waist, " Do you really think you\'ve got a chance?"

"Since you look like a beached whale, I\'ll say yes! We\'ll need a harpoon just to get you moving!"

Eyes widening, I howled in laughter, watching Lilith\'s expression turn red.

She snapped her gaze to me with fire, "don\'t laugh!"

"Hey, funny is funny! Everything and everyone is Free Game." I joked, wrapping my arms around Lilith, who pursed her lips.

Puffing her cheeks to gain more hugs and kisses, I lovingly granted the little minx just what she wanted when I noticed that Mephisto had vanished alongside Izavith.

"So, do you know Zantars plan?" I suddenly asked Loki, who was gloating.

\'Hmm? Nope. I was simply asked to gather people in the world\'s new capital." He informed; as my lips left Lilith\'s fluffy cheeks, I turned to him. "They are trying to recruit not just you but people from the plane of oblivion. Although it seems we are not finding anyone."

"That\'s because they are not joining us," I said, feeling Lilith nudge my arm.

"He\'s still not free from Balor or Zantars control." She whispered in a few words of warning.

Clapping my palm over my head, I nodded, recalling such things, " Just cut it away with the Abyssal Blade. I\'ll not like a mastermind like Loki working against me."

p She rolled her eyes, " like that\'ll stop him."

"Can you all stop playing around!" Tian wang snapped, rising to his feet with a pale expression, "Surely we are not risking our lives just for him!" He said, pointing at me.

Wait to single me out! Not cool.

"I\'d agree! This is—"

"Bitch I don\'t even know your name. Shut the fuck up! And Tian Wang, you don\'t have a choice; as we speak, my people are looking for that no dick fuck child of yours. By the way, how did you like the gift Lilith sent you? I\'d heard your child squealed as the guards chopped off his dick."

"You-you can\'t speak to my wife like—"

"Keep talking, and I\'ll hand her off to the demons. By day\'s end, I\'m sure they\'ll have her eating her shit."

Good god, I feel like a villain. Hmm? You know. I don\'t think I\'ve done anything evil for a while. Hmm, what can I do? That I haven\'t done before? Such a challenge.

Enjoying the deafening silence. Loki arched his hand high, akin to a child in school, " So, we on this mission cuz I\'ve got shit to do."

"Smiling from ear to ear, I nodded, "Yeah, let\'s kill this fucker. Lilith!"

"Marquess Yor\'fenli is about ten years away, surrounded by twenty High Gods that seem capable." Said, Lili

Humming in response to the not-so-good news I already figured, I knew a frontal attack wouldn\'t be the best of decisions. Not anymore with demons and devils governing Heaven and Earth. We need finesse for this mission.

Loki and I could probably handle the infiltration; Lilith and the cannon fodder will handle the guards. I just hope Tian Wang\'s wife doesn\'t end up like Lisa. God bless her soul. She didn\'t deserve any of that. I swear all the people who didn\'t deserve such a fate received it, but the people who did receive such a fate got quick deaths.

It was totally unfair on all counts. Last I saw Lisa. She was skinned from the neck down, standing beside kain with rotting flesh, filled with pestilence. It was sickening, but the harsh look of joy she held towards Kain made it all seem wild.

That bitch was insane, but I did that to her, and all she had to do was sleep with me. It was like she took on my Karma.

Shaking my head, praying Lilith wasn\'t the one who cast some strange type of curse, I opened my hand, offering it to Lilith, who leaped into my embrace just as we soared into the skies towards the southeast.

But during that time, I figured it was finally time to begin creating my Hive Mind with all the souls I collected. While it won\'t be as monstrous as Lilith\'s that allowed her to use concepts, I would be able to begin my journey into understanding other concepts outside the ones I learned or skills and Dao\'s that eluded me.

Focusing my soul, I began to gather several soul flames of weak, insignificant low gods before trying to make a connection with all of them.

Whenever a soul enters my soul flame, it is tempered by the flame that is my soul—burning away any nutrients to fuel me. However, I didn\'t need these souls to refine my body any longer but instead live in harmony within me, acting as a secondary intelligence.

Creating a hive mind with those I kill would allow me an unlimited amount of perspectives, and with that, I\'ll be a Paragon in no time.