Large as a berserker, Beleth stared at me with dark red eyes that swirled a vortex of flames and arched his lips into a sneer.
"Hight God? You break through and think your—"
Piercing through space and shattering the confines of laws and concepts, Noctem whipped through the vastness of time and struck against steel, batting Beleth from the skies with enough force, an explosion rivaling the shattering of worlds thundered through my ears.
Like a beam of light racing through mountains and rivers, I watched the limp body of Beleth vanish over the horizon. And my eyes swayed towards the army just outside the tower connected to the Bridge of the Damned.
"ARSENE!!!"
Staring at the Prince of Hell gathered at the front of the amassing army, abyssal wings flared from my back as I soared down from the skies and past the bridge that began to release a suppressive power.
Taken back by the sudden force, trying to crush my soul to dust. I only froze for a second before continuing on my way. Such a crushing force wouldn't affect someone like me. And even if it did, I'd not stop my step. Lucifer has no dominion over me.
"Little Prince of the First Hell, Alzimar, and is that Archduke Bune I spot sucking you off?" I asked aloud for all to hear, releasing my demonic aura that seemed to make devils look like cute kittens.
Bloodlust crackled through the air and billowed like a storm around me as I landed just outside the tower, hearing the sounds of slaughter from within.
In contrast to the hulking body of Beleth, the Prince appeared thin with ash-like skin and yellow eyes that burned with a rancid evil. He was tall but thin, with fangs as long as a vampire's.
"Was it you who called this king without honorifics?" I question, staring dead at Alzimar.
A tinge of fear flickered over the ashen skin devil but recovered almost immediately, but I could feel the unease in this man's heart. He was scared. And it was growing.
"This is not a battle you can win, Arsene." Said Alzimar in a rasping tone.
Noctem shuttered, fracturing space and time in this higher realm as I stepped forward, leaving behind a trail of destruction as I approached with a dark grimace.
Devils and demons all parted like the red sea as I pressed ahead, stopping five paces away from the Prince.
'I'm a magnanimous Lord. So I'll give you one chance." I rose a single finger. " One. Surrender to this King, and I'll allow Beleths transgression to fade."
"ARSENE!!!!"
Noctem swept into action and twisted in a beautiful semi-arc of black light striking against the berserker devil hammering his ax towards my head.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM~
Ash and brimstone stormed the skies, parting clouds, and the earth beneath my feet shattered, pushing me down into a crater more than seven kilometers deep.
Fire danced over my skin, threatening to scar my flesh, as magma pooled over my feet. Ash that burned fell over my skin, leaving only the burning eyes of Beleth's cleaving strike over my spear before my eyes.
The King of Hell reached out, and an orb of hellish qi formed at his palm directly at my head and ignited.
But as he moved, so too did I. Reaching my palm out, I grabbed the very orb-bleeding the Concept of Fire and Death. And crushed the very orb before his eyes like it were an egg. Fire and death danced over my flesh as I laughed at his stupefied expression.
"You'll have to do better than that. Get serious, or this King will take your head!" I howled as the darkness crowned me, protecting me from harm. My left leg whipped through the flames just as Beleth moved to defend; connecting with his arm, the King of Hell was blasted out of the pit.
"P-P-P-Paragon!" Stammered Beleth flexing his muscles to stop his flight.
I smiled and slowly soared out of the hellish pit without injury and shrugged. "I'm a paragon in every aspect but technique. But my hax allows me to fight you guys pretty evenly. Who knew the soul was so important?"
Everything seemed slower. It seemed like no matter what, Beleth did. I had a counter. Whether it was gathering power from my pride, the Hells, the Abyss, or for myself, I instantly knew how to counter his moves. But he could do the same. He had blocked all of my strikes none of my hits had landed.
But… this ash. Looking up at the skies at the strange ash falling over my skin, burning deep into my soul, made me frown. It was piercing through my barrier of darkness.
'This is Arakiel Wings,' Lily said to me. "No matter what you do. This ash will burn your Soul and Body. You'll find that many strange things have changed the Hells. Whether it's Arakiels Angelic Wings, burning for all eternity, or his blood forming rivers, many Fallen have managed to change the Hells with their Fall. "
I hummed in response to Lily. And stared dead at Beleth and slid my gaze to Alzimar and Archduke Bune approaching their King in the skies of Avenos.
"You've grown," said Beleth calmly. "It wasn't that long ago you were barely a half-blood." I frowned but still listened. "But this is where it all ends, Arsene Snow."
Pushing out my senses, the moment the hairs over the nape of my neck stood on end, I quickly caught sight of dozens of formations, releasing a deadly light that carried nodes of scarlet. Unease swelled through my veins, and a powerful trapping force suddenly came over me like a hammer wishing to push me down to the Hells.
Chains suddenly began to pierce through the depths of Hell and around me faster than I could see and snatched hold of me.
Grunting as the chains of Hell coiled around me, I frowned as almighty essence suddenly attempted to seal my Qi.
"Don't even attempt to escape. Not even Higher Beings can escape those chains." Beleth remarked with an icy grimace. " The Nobles of my Court are all chanting the Infernal Mantra. There is no escape for you, Arsene Snow."
Dragged to the pits like a chained dog, my muscles bulged as I cursed beneath my breath, feeling all my powers were being sealed.
Struggling, I snapped my gaze upwards, and the sigil of the black sun appeared between my brow, bleeding a demonic aura.
"Oh no! Kill—"
"Celestrial Slash!"
Catching sight of a silvery arc of sword intent cleaving through the chains around my body, cutting through them like hot butter, the air shuttered as Lilith materialized by my side.
"What are you thinking by going on the front lines alone?" she scolded, batting her long lashes at me. "We need to retreat. One man cannot fight off a Legion of Hell. This war could take hundreds of cycles, Arsene."
I frowned at her words but nodded. These chains had been a lesson. While I was sure I could have regained my mobility with my attunement, I wasn't sure if I could break them.
"Head to the Tower of Lucifer and help Freya clear it out. That tower is indestructible. It'll be a good base."
More annoyed than I was happy to escape with Lilith's help, I soared up to the skies and stared at the dark expression of Beleth."
"You'll pay for this." He said to me. "There is no way in hell you'll win this. Demons are born for war; we have the advantage in the long run and are immortal. You may have the ability to kill devils and demons for good, but your people don't. We'll keep sending out Demons and Devils till you break, Arsene."
"We have more Paragons."
Beleth chuckled. "The Hells might have changed with the Great Change, but we have relics that'll make the Chains of Hell you just experienced seem like child's play. You've no chance in hell."
Snorting, I shadowed step to my knight's side as she danced in a sea of blood and flames. Sweat oozed from her brow as she snatched a demon by the head, tearing it from the body as she cut through dozen of other demons with her sword arm. Behind her, the Sixth Battalion stood covered in blood as they backed her up, never breaking formation.
Dismissing my spear back into my soul, I folded my arms and frowned. There were only so many moves we had. This was going to be a battle of attrition. And I still had to worry about Iluthath. While I'm sure the other Lords in that land have been frightened by what happened with the Holy Spirit, they'll be sending ambassadors. Nevertheless, there will be others, like the Court of Nox, who will keep attacking.
Beleth seems more competent than I thought. Or perhaps it's only now that I am looking at him as a worthy foe. The man is competent. He knows how to play the game. This is going to take a long time. Is it even worth it? Then there is Zantar… If he joins, as Lilith had said, I fear things will only descend into further chaos.
Then there are the chances of other Kings of Hell showing up. The Hells demands my full attention.
"Lilith," I called to my wife as she danced like a reaper of death, cutting through demons like weeds, bathing her dress red. She looked at me. " Your authority in the Nines, what can you do with that."
"I can restrict the resurrection of devils and demons, but the other Eight Realms will just supply the Avenos with troops. I can close the realm gates and force them to take the river Styx to slow the supply, but you'll never be able to fully overrun Avenos in time."
My brow creased, and before I could answer, Victoria uttered her input as she appeared drenched in dragon blood. "We don't need to overrun Avenos. We just need a single territory. If we can take at least a few hundred Kilometers in a cycle, then we are good even if reinforcements arrive."
"Do that… I want Avenos. I know that ruling the Nines without a few chaos cycles will not happen. But getting a good footing in the Nines is the best we can do with our limited resources." I calmly responded. "Lilith. Seal the Infernal Gates and restrict devil and demon resurrection."
Flickering to my side, Lilith smiled at me. "It's gonna cost you, you know."
"When does it not."
"It's gonna cost you greatly, Sene."
"Woman, I gave you two kids. What more do you want?"
"All the kids. All of em'."
Pushing Lilith out of my mind, I looked on at the battle below. We were almost out of the tower, which was surprisingly large. But our main armies will remain on the bridge. It's somewhat safe there.
"Lilith, I need the Abyssal Children. All of them are to be here. And can anyone tell me who is running my base in the Eben Forest after it was destroyed?"
"..."
"What's with the silence? Surely it's not bad."
"It's Zanris." Said, Lilith.
"Oh fuck… " Shadow Stepping out of the Hells, my mind spiraled with unease that only grew as I stepped into a pool of blood-gathering pestilence.
"Hi, Master!" Shout Zan with a large smile as a dozen or so foreign soldiers stood huddled together. Carrying the noble crest of the Stag with two swords engraved behind the emblem. I paled, knowing instantly who that belonged to.
"Winterpool," I muttered; that very city was said to have been around the time when the Laws of Blood were being cultivated and perfected.
At its peak, it was said that Chaos Lords would make pilgrimages to that holy land to make offerings. It was often said that Winterpool was the birthplace of Chaos Lords.
"Zan—"
"Master became a chibi? Zan likes. Master is extra cute now. Can Zan get hugs?"
Fuck me!
"Zanris… please tell me this isn't the ambassadors of Winterpool."
"How'd you know? Bunch of bitches they are. They came wishing to—"
"Is that their blood on the ground?"
"Nope… I think that's the blood from the delegates of some other place. Zan doesn't remember."
"And have you harmed these people yet?"
"Not yet. Why?"
"Your fired."
"EH!!! You can't fire Zan! Zan is awesome!"
"Fired!" I snapped, turning to the guard's man huddled around a young-looking boy appearing barely older than twelve.
"..."
"Never mind, you can kill them. They actually sent a child to negotiate with this King? Cook em' alive and send a video to Winterpool."
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