Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

Staring at the roof I didn’t recognize, the rumbling of my stomach on the futon caught my attention, but I was far too comfortable to move. Letting myself sink into the comforters, I moaned and smiled. My God my balls have never felt better. What happened?

Twenty more minutes, and I’ll get up

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Two more minutes

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Ok, I’m going back to sleep.

Unable to resist the weight of my eyelids, closing on their own, and the sound of the sliding door opening. I held back the urge to turn my head, as I was too lazy to move when I saw two lovable heads peek at me on each side. Sniffing me like two little puppies, they leaned in close, kissing my cheeks.

“Papa is awake,” Arkanos was the first to say, leaning over me as I stared up.

“Papa, Mama is massive!” Ty said, dashing away all my weariness.

Picking myself up, I turned towards Ty, “What did you say?”

Looking at her sister, Ty snatched Arkanos into her arms and was pulled into a vortex of darkness, vanishing from my eyes.

Blinking at the sudden mischief of those two, I rose to my feet, stretching my—

Wide-eyed, I stared at my right arm covered in strange tattoos starting from my palm, racing up to my shoulder; my brow scrunched, “Is this a curse mark? Good God, did I get raped? Did Orochimaru g–”

“Arsene!” Lilith shouted, slamming the sliding doors open; I stared dead at her stomach, which didn’t seem to have changed since I last saw it.

Those damn lying brats!

“Your up! It’s been a few months since you lost consciousness.” She softly mentioned lowering her gaze to my tatted arm, causing my brow to be creased,” What do you remember.”

“Transferring the sin to— ”

“Show me your shadow flame,” Lilith swiftly said, cutting me short. I frown, eyeing her stern expression. She seemed angry.

Lifting my left hand, I willed a shadow flame to appear. Noting nothing had changed, I smiled, “The Tarnishing is a temporary thing; I have to go through the whole tarnishing process again to make any progress. It’s not permanent.”

“Oh really,” She remarked rather sarcastically, “Then why not try summoning that same flame in your left hand.”

Bewilderment stretched over my heart and dimmed as I followed her assertion. Lifting my hand, the runes over my arm all lit up with a Hellish Light. Stirring the deepest part of my soul, I felt the three great Powers all rise from my palm: Hell, Darkness, and Abyss all erupted into a shadow flame, releasing such power everything around turned into pixelated light, converging into my palm as a devouring force came like a black hole sucking away everything and everyone. Except for Lilith, of course, who remained covered in a dense aura of abyssal light. 𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗻𝐨𝐯𝗲𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Ceasing my action, the flames died, and my eyes lifted to meet Lilith’s icy ones, “you are the bridge Arsene. The Path of Abyssal Night made it possible to connect to three great powers, and now with your adaptation, these powers are fusing and tarnishing your very body.”

“Am I God?”

Blocking a swift kick to my nuts, I flicked my hair with style as I acted on pure instincts, “my nut blocking game is one hundred! You will have to do better than that, my dear wife.”

“You realize I can time travel, right?”

“Screw that power!”

“Yeah, screw you too.’

Clearing my throat, I took a bit of a step back, not wishing to anger Lilith more than she already was, “So, what does this mean for me?”

“No idea. Not even Izavith knows. But Ty and Freya, alongside the other Shadowfell, were both affected. Congrats, Sene, you just made a Fallen race.” Lilith darkly conveyed.

“You don’t seem proud,” I said, crossing my arms.

Lilith rarely cared for most things, but for some reason, she does now.

“Have you thought on what the Arbiters might have to say? We are already touching upon a line. Me kidnapping everyone in 11 realms was already doing something, then there is Mimir’s action in the Bed of Chaos, or did you think I didn’t remember him slaughtering the lower realms? We are on a tight leash, Sene, and you were blinded by greed.”

“Still don’t see the problem.” I uttered, rolling my eyes, “I’ll just get stronger and kill everyone that comes at me.”

“Oh really,” She said, staring at me like I was some fool. “You’re a Realm Lord. Not even a Heavenly Lord. Your schemes are fading, Sene; you are finally about to face people that schemes aren’t going to help you against,” She paused, releasing a deep breath, “Zariel may be on your side, but there is a limit on how much he can protect our child and us.”

“Did I break some type of rule?” I asked, a little confused by all that was going on.

“No one has ever done what you did, but that’s where the issue lies. As a Lord of Order, it’s Zariels job to bring balance. And you, Arsene, are making things difficult. But what’s done is done.” She finally said, shaking her head. “We talked about it, and—”

“And?” I said rather coldly.

I didn’t like this one bit. ‘We talked about this?’ who the hell is we? I’m a grown-ass man. Sure I may have overstepped my bounds, but I’ll be damn if there is someone out there dictating what I do. I’m fucking Arsene Snow; I do what I fucking, please.

Did Zariel have to go through this shit? I’m seven dao cycles old mentally, yet there is someone out there speaking to my wife behind my back for some reason.”

In and out, in and out. Calm down, Arsene. Just listen and don’t run wild. You’re a Tarnishing God now. Keep a calm mind first, then run shit down.

“And, everyone thinks.”

“Everyone thinks,” I coldly repeated, as a rage began to boil within the pit of my chest, “And who is everyone.”

“The entire Order of Chaos,” Lilith said, as a matter of fact, taking out my mask that held ‘III’over its top. “We all think that you, Arsene Snow, should not be allowed to rule.”

“Huh?” Shocked by her sudden declaration, I tilted my head, wondering how that worked. “I will take over as proxy, and you separate from it all. You are too toxic. I fear the Arbiters will burn all we created down to kill you.”

“But I’m the Monarch of Darkness, the King of Noctem.”

“And you will be, but in name only.” She conveyed. “This way, whatever you do, will be on you. So run wild, do whatever you want. After this festival, everything will be under my control, and you will be free of responsibility.”

“So you would be my sugar mama?”