Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

A/N: Comprehensive chapter about Reincarnation for all Realms.

That name again.

“A fragment? I would have thought that such a Monolith was indestructible.”

“They are. But there are people. Talented individuals like yourself brave enough or perhaps foolish to test the boundaries of life. Have you ever read anything that carried so much intent or power that it made you bleed? The word of any god to a mortal is a life-changing matter. Writing down the inscriptions of someone like Lucifer can enslave an entire heaven.”

Tene sighed and slowly lay beside me, resting her head over my shoulder. She snuggled close, a little cold to the touch. But as her cheeks pressed against me, warmth appeared. “Arsene, you will quickly discover some artifacts out there that are so powerful they can break people like Hellmaster.”

Lids struggling to remain open, a gentle yawn pinned me deeper into my bed as darkness took me. Fast and quick, I fell asleep, awakening with a gentle nudge to my shoulder.

Opening my eyes to the sight of the ashen hair of Melinoe staring at me with a confused look. She glanced around. ” Looks empty in here. No pictures?”

Groggy and honestly confused by her appearance, I glanced down at the missing Tene and nodded. ” I’m not really a picture person.”

“You are weird. I look at myself every day. Father took one of me long ago. Looking at the innocent me then and now… It puts things into perspective.” Melinoe stopped after a long pause and spun in my direction. “It’s almost afternoon. We’ve got business to take care of.”

“So you invade my room?”

“Aunty Tenebrae said it’s fine. So did the Pale Lord.”

Groaning at the blatant disrespect, I quickly found myself sighing. “How am I king, and everyone I know seems to ignore something as simple as boundaries? Well? What is it?” I quickly asked, rising to my feet, seeing no reason to be overly angry.

A/N: Wake me up, and its war! Nut shots all around!

“We want to reestablish the old rules of Reincarnation. We want to be Noctem’s Reincarnation Pool to be transferred to the Plane of Oblivion. I’ve already sent an ambassador to Elysium to establish a mortal heaven for people to ascend to. The one in Oblivion is subpar at best and can’t compare.”

“You sent all the good people to Elysium? They must be angels over there.” I mentioned cracking my head as I changed my clothes from last night. “Can I assume you are sending some naughty souls as well? If not—”

“Yes. Six percent.”

“Now that’s interesting.” I wonder… “Are they Race Changing?”

“Yes I—”

“No. I do not want my people’s race to change. Those born of the darkness born through Tene’s will, mine, or Luna’s will cannot change.” I coldly said. “This is especially true for the Shades and Shadowfell, who are the minority of Noctem.”

“Arsene, if I’m not mistaken, your own people don’t have a real reincarnation pool. Many people are in limbo. And with you ruling men. Death is all but guaranteed to billions, if not trillions. The upkeep in how much Noctems Pool can keep up is limited: This is especially true for the Abyssal Fiends.”

“You know about the Fiends?” I quickly said, frowning. While it wasn’t a secret. There was a small world just for the Abyssal Fiends. And the rebirth of any powerful monster took resources. There was always a price to pay. Same with the Shadowfell. I needed balance.

It took a while for me to understand this, mainly because I didn’t care at first. But creating millions of Shadowfell was dangerous. My people can’t just allow them to reincarnate. We need to wipe memories, clean the soul, and affirm the natural law on the soul, which takes something money can’t buy. Time, understanding of Karma, Souls, and a dozen other Laws. Then there are punishments and rewards?

Each time a person dies, they have a chance to grow stronger or weaker. A truly evil soul will be tormented, which brings a risk of them being weakened. But it also brings the risk of growing stronger than they were through extreme tempering. Same with extremely good people. Our Reincarnation Order essentially sets the standard for power in my land. And that requires time. A hundred years won’t do it; this is where the Seven Heavens come into play. They are the ones who create souls. Only this Heaven can create true souls from nothing. As powerful as Tene is, not even she can do that. Same for me.

We use their invisible law that stretches over the twelve realms. It’s truly an amazing formation. But if Bael was correct in his findings which I’m sure he is, this formation connects very deeply into the various realms establishing all new life.

“I can’t speak for other realms, only Oblvian, regarding what you request. And even then. Out of that minority, I can’t foster more than .8 percent. I just don’t have the resources. These two races are too powerful. Not to mention the others out there.”

“What if we sent ambassadors with an entire workforce? Surely that will—”

“If they also accept work on behalf of Oblvian, I see no problem allowing them to use our facilities. But you know that will affect Noctem.” 𝙗𝒆𝒅𝙣𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒏𝙚𝙩

“Yeah… man. This place is a mess. Talk to Tene about the details. She’ll handle bringing my ideas into reality.” I finally said. Tene had experience with this, and honestly, I don’t have time. I can’t constantly be in the Shadow Realm or Noctem.

I need to head to Genisis to meet up with—

“What about your heroes?”

“My hero’s?” I questioned when a realization struck me. The monsters that can’t be controlled.

While I love to control, we need strong people. Strong people breed strong people. And those people will, in turn, allow them to foster children, raising them into strong monsters.

I see why kings struggle with betrayal at times. The stronger the kingdom, the less control a king has unless they grow alongside their kingdom.

‘Going to the Hells was a mistake. I didn’t consider this. Now those dead souls are stuck in the Hells.’

“Your grimacing,” Melinoe said with a stoic expression. “Problem?”

“Nothing I can’t solve. I just took a midrange loss. Come, let’s head outside. I’d like Tene to be a part of this… Lilith too.”

Sending a message to my disciple to join us so he can learn. Melino? and I stepped out of my chambers to start the new day.