Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

“We are too late. Not Good,” Captain Ridge shouted. He rose from his seat, capturing my attention. There we saw a blazing eye glaring down at the forest below. “Sir, we must stop. Enticing the Array of this caliber could be disastrous.”

“Nonsense,” The Tenkku quickly said. “If Arsene Snow is there, then we need to be there. It’s the sole reason we are here.”

“He is right,” I said, struggling to find the words to speak. Now was not the time to worry about the consequences. I did not think Arsene would be so quick. I thought I had maybe a few days, not seconds. This situation is not good; any other star-lord is sure to die in the Array, meant to kill High Gods.

“Connect me to whoever is in charge.” I then said, a little grim. Captain Ridge sent me a long stare and nodded.

“Sir.” He saluted, but even after a few seconds, his aged brow tensed as he pressed a few buttons over the terminal.

“Nothing, Sir. We are being ignored, I am sure. there should be nothing jamming the frequency.”

Standing out of the way near the entrance. The cruiser hummed to life, and the engine howled, blaring fire from its turbines; the vessel whipped through the formation, and the eye high above the skies turned its gaze to us, but Sormal Ridge, one of my personal officers, took his place at the captain seat with a calm grimace.

“Hand me manual control.” He said calmly when two sticks slowly appeared from the captain’s chair. Sormal Ridge took hold of the both of them and released a sharp breath, “Sir, we will need a plan. If we fall into this formation, we are dead, and if this vessel is destroyed, we are dead.” 𝐛𝗲𝗱𝗻𝗼𝐯𝐞𝗹．𝐨𝐫𝗴

“Take me to the Temple,” I calmly replied, understanding the tension in the air. I was an Elder God myself, but even I would be helpless before some formation. My strength came from the ability to fight two or three gods at once. I was not proficient in defending. Not many gods were. We sought power, power to annihilate the enemy in a single stroke. A defensive Arte was a resort meant to protect ourselves, not others.

“Sir,” Captain Ridge softly replied with a quickening breath, and the small Cruzer accelerated, whipping over the grim night; the Array screeched with a menacing flair of divinity. And from the darkness, the ship whined as if a horrid pressure attempted to tear it apart. The Cruzer trembled, screaming in anguish when a flash of light pierced from the eye above.

Ridge was ready. He held the control that held the accelerator and decelerator and pushed forward, while on his right hand, he directed the ship, twisting at a thirty-degree angle. The engine purred grievously under pressure; as the vessel swung out, reaching for safety under the control of my captain. Missing the ship by a single hair, the entire Cruzer trembled as lights flashed on and off. Voice of operation officers raced back and forth, giving status reports.

Knowing his work was unfinished, Ridge pushed the vessel to the highest speed possible given the situation, granting him the best amount of control in this deadly situation. He knew moving at light speed, which would allow us to reach the temple faster, was a bad idea as It would also force his vessel to be easy pickings.

I closed my eyes and peered outside with a flicker of my soul, and my eyes shot open, “Dodge!” I cried, but Captain Ridge did not need to be informed as the vessel had already weaved through the beam of light that had once passed us and ricocheted over the ground with the help of the Void.

Sweat flowed from the rugged forehead of the middle age captain. When the Array once more hummed to life, the alarms began to howl.

“Sir, seven incoming! The barriers will not hold if we are hit.” Said one of the officers I did not recognize.

Jerking the Cruzer out of danger the best he could, a bitterness touched my heart as I turned around, “Open the deadlock in the loading bay. I am close enough. ” I said and left; through the corridors, I entered the ship’s bowels and drew my sword from the darkness in my heart. Hooking it to my side, I drew a deep breath.

“Allow me to come with you, Sir!” Kervya buzzed in my ear from the rear, but I shook my head.

“You will remain.” I coldly replied. I did not need a spy who I could not trust. “You are to remain on the ship. Contact me when the ship leaves. We are only at the halfway point, but it seems like we are about to die.”

Alarms quickly echoed as the lights turned to a deep red, and the winds whipped over my face as the hanger bay opened. Hesitation did not take me once as I darted over the ship, free-falling over the clouds; several beams of light shot towards me, almost several times faster than the speed of light.

My blade slashed over the bolts of light, and my arm trembled at the force trying to tear them apart, but I easily deflected them back to the Array’s core with a single quick draw of my sword. Smoke clouded my vision as my senses picked up on a menacing aura.

It was funny how even the chancellor was not welcome to this land, the once pure home of all dark.

Towards the north, I could see dozens of soldiers draped in dragon armor, carrying glaves in their right hand and shields in the other, surrounding a young man with long jet black hair with snow-white tips. He was smiling when suddenly he turned to me.

The young man sent me an odd wink, and my heart seized. Everything in me screamed danger. This boy, this new monarch, was dangerous.

“Arsene!” I called, feeling the very name was fitted to be the next lord of darkness; it had just rolled off the tongue. I landed over the ground and shot forth at full power. Ready to protect the young lord, surrounded by a squad of soldiers.

Fearful of what was about to happen, I tapped into my full power, something no Elder God had done since we came to power.