Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

The icy touch of my spear began to lessen, dipping to my knee under the stare of Belphegor. The room was cold, but I felt like I was about to freeze to death under his gaze. I’ve seen killers, murderous, shit I was one of them, but this man was different.

Everything I did was measured by this monster, from how I lifted my spear to how I lowered it; he would be judging my actions and contemplating what was next. It wasn’t like Mephisto, who felt like a mysterious friend; Belphegor seemed almost suffocating.

I didn’t sit as he suggested. My instincts were telling me not to, they were screaming for me not to test this man, but I wasn’t going to be bitched by anyone that wasn’t my wife. Only she can screw me over! I like that!

You know it’s just hitting me now; I’ve got a weird relationship with Lili.

“What is it you wish to discuss?”

“Your loyalty, maybe allies that I can trust.” He said, snapping his fingers, summoning a bottle of wine that held no label, but with the popping of the cork, the scent of blood, cupped with a scarlet mist, whisked out of the wine bottle.

Lilith’s expression sank to that of revulsion. Her cheeks paled, and with a few steps back, she stared as Belphegor poured himself a glass alongside Lilith, Loki, and myself.

“You seem tense.” He said, his voice dropping a few octaves. Pushing the wine glass through the air with sheer will, I caught the glass, but Lilith did not.

Blood red wine pooled over the ground, following the shattering sound of glass, before darkening as if it were tainted. “I’ll pass,” Lilith uttered, taking a step back. “I’d rather not have the blood of aborted children in my mouth.”

The Hell?

I stiffened, looking down at the rippling of blood through the wine and then at the smiling demon, sipping as though he hadn’t a care in the world.

“So innocent,” He observed, lowering the glass from his lips. “I did not send the children to me. Why should it matter if it’s of a fetus or not?”

“We are not having this conversation,” Lilith barked in a calm chilling tone.

“But I wish to discuss it?” He said, ignoring Lilith’s statement,” On earth, some believe that a fetus isn’t a child. Obviously, it’s their morality speaking to them to justify the act of terminating what I’m currently feasting on.”

“Is there a question in this?” Lilith uttered.

“My question is, why does morality matter so much? Why is there a need to justify killing an unborn child? And since you are a woman housing two little buns, I’d like to know your thoughts?”

Morality. Something I can never grasp. My pride speaks for me, so my sense of morality is nonexistent in most cases.

“For a man who’s lived longer than anything we could imagine, you seem so caviler about your morality. I think people just wish to have the right to do whatever they want. I can’t say whether it’s right or wrong; I can only guess it depends on the situation, but I agree on one thing: a fetus is a child.”

“So can I assume you would kill your unborn child if you—”

‘As I said, it depends on the situation; for me, if it would save Sene… I would terminate the pregnancy. But they will always be my first and second child, not some fetuses; I have no argument about that.” She said, sending my heart into a fluttered state.

“This conversation is meaningless,” I chimed in as a wave of heat seared its way into my chest. “What is it you want?”

“To know you, of course, and what better way is there than to get a grasp of who you are? Then to talk about things that are quite sensitive to most people?

“Fuck you. You were merely trying to see how attached we’d be.” I snapped as the sin of wrath poured through my veins like liquid fire.

Dropping the wine, Belphegor seemed surprised but still smiled, “Seems like you did not take after the demons and devils in this regard, interesting. Shall we get back to business?”

‘Arsene, you are giving too much away; what are you doing? Loki uttered in a soul whisper.

I needed to have fate in my Chibi’s; they will have many targets on their backs, and honestly, I can’t always protect them, not from beings like the Fallen. The little buns will need the best of the best in training them.

Fingers clenching, I sucked in a large breath, “No more Belphegor. No more.” 𝚋𝚎𝚍𝚗𝚘𝚟ｅｌ.ｃ𝚘𝚖

“On that, we agree.” Lilith coldly said, unsheathing the Abyssal Blade.

The Demonic Fallen lifted his wine glass back to his lips, “This one’s name was Alvin Mcgave when he came before me. His mother was a whore, or as she would say, she liked having fun, slept with almost half her college campus, keeping an intricate journal of every man she’s been with from High School to college.”

My eyes narrowed, and he continued, “When she finally died at age twenty-seven, due to a boyfriend taking a hammer to her head, she appeared before me. And do you know what her punishment was?”

Unease filled my stomach as I merely listened, unsure where this was going. “When her first abortion happened, you should have seen this woman. The mother was so distraught she fell into a symphony of sex and drugs before she found herself pregnant several months later. And once again, the cycle continued till she began cutting herself to drown out the pain of loss. Telling herself, she was nothing more than a whore. So when she finally came to me, I allowed her two choices.”

He raised two fingers, “one. she continues to pump out children for me to feast upon, or be subjected to eternal torment, and do you know what she picked?”

“Was there a difference?” Lilith uttered with a dark expression.

“There was not, for what greater punishment is there than the ones we create? Her screams continue to fill my dreams as I would force her to watch as I process the underdeveloped child, twisting them similar to how someone would make orange juice and BAM! She snapped!”

Belphegor stood up, with his two fingers still arched, “So I’m going to give you two choices. Join me and live every day happy under my rule or kneel.”

“It’s not every day I say this, but you’re sick.” I coldly announced, “Sicker than anything I’ve seen.”