Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

"Tch."

"What? You don\'t like the scraps I left behind?" Zariel laughed, his menacing smile thickening. "Well, you shouldn\'t have died. Not my fault you were weak."

This asshole.

Sucking in a deep breath, I spoke. " If this path is incomplete, how can I sense it?"

"The Path of Abyssal Night," Zariel said, releasing a weary yawn. "Damn, I\'m tired. Anyway. The Path The One and The All gave taps into the Void of Spirits."

\'Void of Spirits?" I repeated.

"Like the name? Better than calling it a Void." He said, but I shook my head.

"Kinda a stupid name. All you did was add two words."

"Fuck off. The Void of Spirits exists on the same plane of existence or at least in the resting area of The One and the All. It\'s a transient realm I tapped into to create the Path of Paragon and whatever you want to name your path… you little bitch. Since your naming sense is so great." Zariel said, and he rolled his eyes. "Ever heard of the Spirit Realm?"

"Isn\'t it the realm space layered on the Astral Realm?"

"That is correct. Within the Astral Plane, if you wish to learn the Arcane Arts, and I mean truly learn them, you need to be able to connect to the Spirit Realm. That\'s why I sealed the Astral Realm. They were simply too dangerous."

"Too dangerous? How?"

"Arsene, when one enters the Spirit Zone, it\'s nearly akin to gaining omniscience. You can\'t perceive the information in a certain sense, but you enter a state of knowing."

"A state of knowing?"

He nodded grimly. "Yes, when one enters the spirit zone, awareness becomes perception towards all things. It\'s absolutely monstrous in combat. Even I\'ve yet to master its ways. But by tapping into the Spirit Zone… your soul connects to a plane that only exists in the Astral Sea, my territory. I don\'t know why but even beings like Mephisto and Lucifer, or Metatron, don\'t have access yet."

"Yet? What\'s that supposed to mean?"

"The shadow proclamation that Tenebrae made, and Mephisto chaos. A change is on the horizon. now stop interrupting me." Zariel said, taking in a large breath. He began again." When you enter the Spirt Zone, the further you dive, the thicker your sense of awareness grows, and you enter a place… I call the Void of Spirits. And it\'s where the Teleth came into being, where I created the Two Paths: Paragon and whatever you call the other. I\'ve only visited there a few times in my life due to the dangers of toying with the unknown. But it\'s worth it each time. Your Path of Abyssal Night directly taps into that fountain of knowledge. And to put things in a better perspective. Not even Mephisto knows this, but his Black Sabbath merely taps into the exterior perimeter of the Spirit Zone."

"Wait. Wait. Mephisto can only tap into the exterior? But Black Sabbath directly influences reality. I can bend reality, even the minds of my enemies and allies. How is it only the exterior? Didn\'t you say he can\'t use the Spirit Zone?"

"It\'s not that he can\'t use it. It\'s that he doesn\'t know how to use it." Zariel calmly said. "His techniques, on the other hand, are a different story. Few people can use the Spirt Zone, even in the Astral Sea, which again is why I sealed it. But Tenebrae wanted that land. I don\'t know what makes these people so special. Maybe it\'s the Father\'s will. But either way, those that do know how are born to be great."

"Then can I enter the spirit realm?" I asked him.

"Maybe. You\'ll have to try with the Path of Abyssal Night. But we were not here to talk about the Spirit Zone or Spirit realm. But rather the Void of Spirits." Zariel reminded me. "That\'s the place you will find all the answers you seek. But there is one rule. You can only stay within the realm for one day."

"Any particular reason?"

"Balor… the one you killed through trickery. He stayed longer than a day. And look what happened. And his situation was different from yours. He had the Heavenly Thrones Authority. You don\'t. I have the Father\'s Authority, and you have the Abyss\'s Authority, but even I dare not stay longer. A day is all we get. Thirty minutes is all the rest get. "

"The rest? Like Mephisto?"

"Yes. Moloch, in particular, has a crazed fascination with the Void of Spirits. But he can only enter for thirty minutes once every chaos cycle. That cooldown is due to a lack of options since he can\'t enter the Spirit Zone."

Scratching at my head at the massive influx of knowledge. I frowned, tapping my finger over my knee. " If Mephisto was the one to create the Thirty-three heavens, as an illusion of the Origin Realm. There must be a place like the Astral Sea in the higher realms, right?"

"Maybe."

"EH!!!! What the hell do you mean, maybe?" I shouted as the firewood crackled, releasing a sea of embers throughout the skies.

"Look, the Origin realm is infinitely massive. Only those with omniscience can truly see everything. But all of them seal off that ability in hopes of not becoming lost in the chaos of all-knowing. Not every ability is good, Arsene. And none of those that are omniscient can enter the Spirit Zone. Maybe if they could, it could relieve the madness omniscience carries. So there might be, there might not be. Either way, in the origin realm, gaining powers is damn near impossible. That realm is too structured."

"I see." I softly said. "That makes sense… But what if the Astral Sea came from Arcadia?"

"No, it\'s from the Myriad Heavens; the Weave confirmed that. But that doesn\'t matter. You\'ve got a new goal now. Don\'t you?"

I smiled. "Yeah… I might be both a Paragon, Chaos Lord, and whatever I name the other one. I might leave you behind, brother."

Zariel chuckled. "If only it were that simple. But you understand when you see what I\'ve built." He stood up with Jin in his arms. " Shall we continue looking for the Gates to Arcadia?"