Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

Chapter 169: War of Kings

Arsene, your greatness knows no bounds. Not to be arrogant, but I may be the second coming. That must be it; how else can someone explain how awesome I am. Lord God-Sama, thank you for giving me this honor.

Nodding, I felt it was finally time to learn the Next Demonic Arte Bael gifted me before he went crazy. Calming my emotions down, I began looking at the next arte deep within my soul.

<war of="" kings=""></war>

Frowning at the content, I grew confused, "Why would bael have two artes like this? I thought it would be an active technique; why is it another passive one like Crimson Winds?"

War of Kings like Crimson WInds would increase my battle prowess, but there was no limit to its growth, unlike Crimson winds. The longer I battled, the greater my battle prowess would grow till my mind became lost to its will.

At its peak, Crimson Winds can increase my power by a factor of one hundred, but War of Kings was like a leach devouring all the negative emotions of the battlefield fueling it into power. The only drawback to this arte was your sanity.

"Did a devil truly create such an arte? Bael... are you truly a devil? This seems more like something a demon would create. Devil follow Order and Demons Chaos... Did bael really crate these Artes? I know he is a prince, but all that he gave me feels out of place."

"Ok, assuming he has studied both demons and devil, he created these, but where is the wrath? Isn't he a demon of Wrath? Why does none of his techniques feel like him? The ferocity within his gaze, his power, even his presence, it all screams wrath, but not his artes. These artes all say balance."

"Crimson Winds gave me the structure for War of Kings. It was perfect. When I reach a higher stage in crimson winds, it will not just be my power that will increase but my mind and soul, which leads me to War of Kings. Something that gives power at the cost of your mind. They complement each other."

"Now, there is my battle style. I have yet to start the Order part of it, but All of it was meant for a variant like mine... What is going on?"

"Bael, who made these Artes?" I coldly asked as no reply came.

A cold chill ran through my body, freezing me still as I suddenly understood I had nothing to trade. Not even my soul would cover the cost to know. Looking up, I frowned, remembering my last meeting with Truck-Kun and Gabriel.

"Both of them knew me? But how," Releasing a sigh, I pouted, "This is so annoying. Maybe I should have asked about this instead of the Abyss. No use regretting; the answer will come. Just look at this as a gift." I comforted, cycling through the memories from day one till now.

Turning my attention back to War of Kings, I became lost in a cycle of its complexity. This arte was the exact opposite of what Crimson winds required, the Dao of the Heavens. War of kings called upon the Mortal Dao of War and Kings.

"War... I can do that, but I was no king. Lilith had the makings of a good King, but me. I was too evil and selfish to be one...Evil? Evil King, Evil God... never mind, I understand." I whispered in an understanding hue, "Bael, can you explain the difference between Mortal Dao and Heavenly Dao. I have an understanding of it. It's just I would like confirmation."

"One thousand sou..."

"You thieving bastard," I grunted, gritting my teeth as he laughed, "F...Fine, take'em. But not the two Death Gates; they are mine."

"Smart bastard. Fine, Mortal Dao, as I'm sure you have figured out, is anything really created by man or beast. For example, the Dao of Spears was created by an ancient god long ago. It grew so powerful it started to affect those at lower dimensional becoming a constant. Mortal Dao, unlike heavenly Dao, is imperfect, leading them to be broken in overpowered at times and useless at other times."

"Heavenly Dao, in a way, is perfect as it was created by Father. While their power is limited, the limit is not known. Their power is not broken and will always be precise and even unlike mortal Dao. Going past Heavenly Dao, you start dealing with the building blocks of Dao, which are called Constants by some and Concepts by others. You will need to pay with divine souls for me to continue. "

Rolling my eyes, I snorted, "That's fine; I can figure the rest out. But who was the one who created the Dao of Spears? Although I am sure nothing within this plane will be enough to..."

"Another thousand souls." bael greedily countered as I almost coughed up blood,

"FUCK YOU!!!"

Pushing bael out of my mind, I focus on my new Arte, Trying to understand what type of King I wish to be. Personally, I didn't really want to be an evil King. Mainly because I never really considered what I do to be evil. Sure it's wrong, at least by society's standards, but to me, it was how I lived my daily life. The weak created the foolish concept of protecting themselves by embedding concepts like empathy within their children—the Fools!

Slapping my head at my idiocy, I smiled, "Why label myself? These are merely names, although Evil king or demonic King does sound badass. They are merely titles; my Mortal Dao holds too many complications and redundantly since it will be a copy of myself... Evil, Demonic, I am so much more than that. I am, after all the second coming.

As if a light bulb went off. I bellowed in laughter, "It seems the Paradox Bael spoke about may help me with more than just formations."

Taking a deep breath, The Elder Ring of my soul began to appear as all emotions within my soul vanish. Staring dead at my soul, I could see multiple elements of the Heavens. Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Lightning, Blood, Light, illusions, and Darkness. Marking them all as Dao that have comprehended in some way. Each of them holding their respective emblem that representative themselves by the heavens.

Closing my eyes, my mind flashed through all I have been through in regards to war. The carnage, the Lust, the hate, the rage... all them outline I experienced when I slaughtered, the men and woman that screams, the ones who begged and the ones that held the ook of despair. This was War to me. There was no reason to dress it up. It was a cruel concept created by man to rule over one another.

Yes, to rule. To be a king, I needed to rule. I needed order, I needed power, grace, cunning, intelligence, and most importantly, I needed pride. I was not just a demon or Devil; I was fucking Arsene Snow. Sin was a mortal Dao, and it will be a part of my Kingly Dao. But not just pride. All seven sins will be part of you. My pride will not allow anything less.

"I Arsene Snow Will be Supreme,"