Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

“Then let this be a test of fate.” He said, holding a radiant smile of intrigue.

Mixed emotions took hold of my mind as the ground trembled and the winds grew increasingly harsh. Whipping back and forth, like planetary tremors, pulses of radiance seemed to ripple a menacing aura that chilled my heart: The Six Lords were almost here.

“Lord Snow,” I repeated, but the gleam of amusement in his eye caused my words to pause. I didn’t know why, but there was something about this boy that rubbed me the wrong way. Despite the deadly situation, Arsene was taking everything lightly; It was as if nothing that happened here mattered to him. 𝘣𝑒𝘥𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝑙．𝘤𝘰𝘮

“Fine,” I said shortly.

I had wanted to argue, wanted to deny Arsene’s request, and simply force my lord into the temple, but emotions were not the way of Zensu. I took a pull from the violent winds, and a calming wave permeated my mind, only to slip away into a deep contrast of nothingness. My fears and worries vanished, leaving only the greatest of powers held in both the strongest and weakest of us, the Will of Tenebrae.

Taking hold of the spark of life that all beings held towards the progenitor, an ethereal intent mixed with mine seemed to flow through myself, and my gaze locked onto the incoming starships burrowing through the atmosphere like a comet.

My sword flickered, and in a single moment, I deflected the bolt of light piercing around us with the intent to kill. Directing the bolt towards the east at the Mecha that could prove to be disastrous, an explosion of astronomical proportions erupted, shattering the stars alongside the void. Air pulled towards the explosion and pushed back with a wave of devastation.

“The Hollowing,” Arsene swiftly said, drawing my attention.

“It’s the consequences of studying Form V. By reaching deep into your soul, past the lies, you tell yourself and emotions that cloud your judgment, you will reach a void held only by you, and you alone. By acting on yourself, you will be ethereal like the graceful darkness,” I said when six towering starships larger than any mountain, spanning far and wide over the horizon, blanketed the Light of Luna.

My eyes fixed themselves over the Planetary Destroyer, Executioner. Turbines were bellowing with a ringing sound that splintered the trees and shattered the ground. The Executioners hovered deep inside the atmosphere, unable to come down due to their large size, less they risked disturbing the gravity field even more than they already were.

The Executioners were built like a stone-cold black fortress. Cannons were based over the ship’s bow, racing towards the helm. On the wings stood hundreds of small fighters, FT-1s glowing with life. Ready to be released from the magnetic clamps holding them in place.

“Man! They really want to kill me. You guys have so much cool shit. I love Noctem!” Arsene exclaimed, beaming rather joyfully.

Unclouded by useless thought, I frowned and shifted my attention towards the temple, through the arm forces whose eyes were fixed on the Executioners, at the smiling devil standing out of sight at the base of the temple, grinning with a few cuts and bruises.

Shaken to my core, I almost lost control of Zensu. “How? There are two of you?”

Arsene scrunched his brow, and glanced back to the temple, then me and nodded, “I’m a shadow. My real body is in the temple already. Hmm, that’s quite a form. I like it more than Form I. It seems it takes away your innate pride and allows you to see things others clouded by emotions would miss. Interesting. ”

“Then allow me to show you what a First Stage paragon can do,” I said and shot form off the ground—soaring through the skies and past the clouds with a single step. My blade glowed with such divine might, the laws reeled, and my sword moved with the gracefulness of the darkness, cutting past the ship’s barriers and deep into the Executioner with a single slash. I continued with a flurry of blows when a hateful bellow resounded.

“OPEN FIRE! RAIN HELL DOWN!!!!”

I frowned, but before I could think any more, hundreds of multicolored light flashed over the horizon faster than light, meeting each cannon fire burrowing towards Enrilia below, batting the cannon fire back to the ships above. Explosions erupted like wide fire burning bright light stars.

Not needing to turn, knowing the Knights of Lunafreya were here, the ambiance shook, and despair began to emanate from some of the souls within the ship. There was no need for an introduction to one of the strongest forces in Noctem, if not the strongest. The Knights of Luna were so feared and respected a single imperial family dared not anger them. To date, they had the most elder gods, due to the Form V, that seemed to resonate with those from Noctem.

“DESTROY THAT TEMPLE! RAM OUR VESSEL INTO THE PLANETS CRUST!” The familiar voice of Leofric Darkmane thundered. Beaming from his ship, he stood with an army of High Gods distorting the laws with their presence. “You bastards will learn not to stand in my way.”

“I will handle him,” I calmly said, shooting the other ships a deep stare. “You handle the other five Lords.”

The sin of wrath anointed Lord Darkmane, stirring the very hatred in all living things, as Ren-Shii rippled like an endless wave of destruction. Bleeding the darkness from out of the void, a haze of anger fueled the King, with long hair that fluttered with ferocity. Having already donned his sky god armor crafted by the bones of an Eternal Sovereign, a sea of scaly black filled my eyes.

“You will pay for your sin against the crown,” Leo thundered, bellowing the planet behind me, shocked, as crack raced down to the core. I drove deeper into the mysterious art of Zensu. Allowing it to seize my hate, my loathing that was constantly being generated by merely the presence of Sovereign Darkmane, my heart chilled in a way I believed not even the First Form could do.

Darkmane hoisted his glaive at a thirty-degree angle, parted his feet, and sucked in a long breath that gave rise to a tension felt throughout Noctem. I lifted my sword to my eye and pushed our bodies into the mirrored realm where we could battle to our heart’s content.