Monarch Of Darkness, Arsene

Resting my head against the ancient walls of an abandoned temple we stumbled upon, I turned to the faceless watching me. It had been almost seven years since I last saw Arsene.

Then all of a sudden, this thing appeared. Feeling its monstrous aura, my first instinct was to kill it, but no matter how much I attacked, this thing never responded. It had no feelings or at least none I could sense, but it was powerful, far stronger than I was at the peak of World Saint.

It had said his majesty would be here to welcome us back to the family; however, his words had only served to place a chill down my spine. I knew a little of Arsene's bloodline and wanted nothing to do with it. I had seen his handy work when he destroyed every kingdom.

"So, do you have a face?" Eroma childishly questioned, circling the Faceless, "I mean can you show us your face?"

"Stop toying with fire, "Father barked, slapping the back of Eroma's head, "Stupid brat!"

"Screw you, old man!" Eroma shouted, flickering behind me to hide, "Big bro, protect me!"

Releasing a heavy sigh, I rolled my eyes; this idiot truly is a piece of work. No wonder he and Arsene got along so well. They love angering people.

"Faceless, how much longer must we wait?" Father asked with a measured gaze.

"I cannot measure the Ashen Kings will. It could be seconds or years." He said, before turning to me, "But he did say if you want true revenge to wait."

Feeling my heartbeat once more, I shivered, clenching my fist. "What do you mean?"

"It's as he said, dear uncle," A voice resounded, sending my soul into a state of shock. It was warm and a little familiar, but there was something off about it.

Falling to one knee, the faceless lowered his head, placing his arm to his chest, as a portal of darkness appeared in front of him. Stepping out, a mist of darkness began to rise as he appeared before us.

Dressed in his suit and a scarlet mantle with a strange sigil, he did not smile nor appear joyful, yet there was warmth within his gaze that was bleeding some black substance.

"It is good to meet you once again, Grandfather, and my two uncles," he said, without expression.

He had changed in many ways, physically, yes, but his eyes reminded me of mine.

"Arsene!" Eroma shouted about to rush to his side when I gripped his arm. Feeling the hair upon my body begin to rise.

"I would love to continue speaking, but they are about to arrive," He said, waving his arm. Widening my eyes at how Night had just appeared, I peered towards my hands that were not even visible. "Relax, we are about to arrive. Oh, and try not to make me look bad; that goes primarily to you, Eroma, enemy gods are about to appear.

Suddenly before I could comment, my eyes were consumed with crimson. Covering my nose, eroma hastily covered his mouth as grandfather rushed to his side.

"Easy boy! Relax!" He said, patting his back at the endless mountain of bodies.

Ashen in color, Grandfather, along with myself, turned to Arsene, who did not seem to even register this sinful land, "How much longer?" He patiently asked towards... Elsa?

Glancing at my family and me, she dismissively shook her head, "about five minutes, I have already prepared a table for our guess. Tea is on its way."

Noticing a rather large table in the middle of the scarlet lake, I shivered in shock at the amount of slaughter that occurred. I had seen death before, but this, this was madness.

"Arsene, what the hell is going on?" I hastily asked, yet was met with silence when all of a sudden he vanished.

"he does that!" Elsa said, appearing somewhat irritated, "But it's good to see a familiar face."

"Where is Yura?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

"Master has been taken... that's as far as I know. I will catch you up later, but for now, you will sit in and get a feel of what happens."

Master? It will seem like many things have happened and will explain why Arsene reminds me of myself. Although he is a little more sain than I am... Unless he was the one who did all of this.

"Elsa, who did all of this?" Eroma bitterly questioned, disgusted by the amount of gore present. "Soldiers would have burned these bodies; they have that much respect.

Noticing the hesitation, I frowned when his voice echoed, "It was I,"

Reappearing, Arsene turned to me, "My wife is within the hands of a prince of hell and is being tortured."

"And that is why I am here?" I inquired, noticing the amusing stare of his bleeding eyes.

"It is, but I believe there is something each of you can get... well, except Eroma... To this day, I still do not know what he wants in life."

"Booty!" Eroma muttered in the background, regaining his witty self.

"And what is it you think you can give me?" Father coldly demanded, ignoring his foolish son.

"My wife went back to Tensen Lumeris, the world in which you were traveling and slaughtered everyone on the island we lived on. " He indifferently said as everyone turned pale in horror, "I can bring them back to life; this also includes our family. I am sure you wish for us to regrow, don't you?"

"And what of the lives that were lost due to your slaughter? said Father, while I remain silent, eyeing the bloody battlefield. There appeared to be four groups, but at this moment, no sides were battling. Was it a truce? No, he said the gods were on their way. So that could only mean he is going to surprise them with something.

"All can be revived, but that will be on you to perform. I can give you the ritual to help gather their souls, but if you are willing to perform this ritual, that will be another story."

"More killing," I said as he nodded.

"Quite right, a soul for a soul. Ritual Magic always requires a price. I can bring them back; I just will need a few billion, or was it, trillion souls."

"And what of my wife," I lightly said as Arsene's expression grew grim. He was silent, and none dared to speak. It was widely known that when soul benders died, they truly die, never to return.

"I do not know, we soul bender have souls, but it's attached to our bodies, and once we die, we are sent to heaven or hell. There is no middle ground according to the Ritual of Damnation. I have a way, but you must convince this person to help you, but even then, I cannot say if she can come back. "

"I know she is in..."

"Not here," He solemnly said, "there are watchful eyes everywhere."

Lowering my head for a moment, I could not help but smile.

"Not to be dismissive of you, my boy, but how is it you are bringing them back to life. I truly find this hard to believe," Father said as I too wanted to know. Such a thing seemed far too simple. I know Arsene would not trick us, but there was something about this I did not like.

"As demons or devils, of course. I am no god, and that happened over six years ago. Rising the dead is honestly impossible, but having them reborn is different, and it just so happens I have the perfect ritual for that. and the price is on its way."

Narrowing my eyes, I sighed. He had us; this little bastard knew all our weaknesses. Scuffing, I drew closer towards my little nephew and patted his head. Like I did all those years ago.

"It's a little late, but I'm glad to see you once again."