Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

"What's wrong?" Mel slowly said, and without hesitation, my fingers pressed against her chest to help mend some of her injuries.

I don't know what type of poison was given to her, but it would seem that my Divinity is just about the bane to everything.

Mithra had said not to interfere, but I couldn't help but insert myself; this was a form of torture I'd never thought about.

"Do you love him?" I asked, and a smile blossomed around Mel's pale lips. Even a tinge of pink seemed to creep into her cheeks as she blushed. With just a few words, she looked like she was… alive and well.

"With all my heart," came her reply.

"Wow," I said, using words that matched my actual thoughts in hopes of it masking the fucked up situation I was witnessing.

My god. Just who was this woman?

"Genuine surprise and worry. Your kinder then, I thought." She muttered, her cheeks slowly losing their luster. Her single eye stared me dead, " So… surely you didn't wake me to speak with me like so."

"I did, actually," I replied, "you know what they say. Curiosity killed the cat. I was thinking of helping you out just to mess with Mithra, but now. Now I don't know. Watching how this will play out seems far more interesting."

Mel seemed confused for a second, but as my finger touched her brow, the light in her eyes faded, and the sounds of soft snores echoed.

"What the hell is Mithra's game?"

"Perhaps enjoyment?" Said my knight, looking down at the sleeping young woman.

"She's no demon or devil; This seems too dark for anything but a trial," I replied, sensing I was drawing closer to the truth. "Perhaps it's a lesson of sorts. But whether it's for that young woman we saw, Lavos or Mel. I couldn't say. But I'm interested. Well, just a little."

"Oh? You're giving up on them?"

"Naw, but I want to see Aldrich before joining this little mess." Picking myself off the bed, I turned to Ezra. "Did we need anything from this town?"

"I sent out a divine sense; they ain't got shit. It's a poor hell hole. We can leave any time we wish." She replied, shrugging her shoulders. " The most interesting was Lavos and Mel."

"Tsk. whatever. Let's go, then. It shouldn't be long before we arrive at the—"

Covering Mel's body in divinity, a destructive wave came over our bodies, uprooting the housing around us.

Standing my ground as the darkness protected both Erza and me, I stared up as the rays of sunlight pressed against my skin. My eyes snapped towards the elemental eyes of a young man gripping a spear made of vines.

Wild dark blue hair rained over the young man's shoulders as he stared down, not at us but rather at Lavos, staggering out of a crater.

"Give us the Core!" The Versi barked in a commanding growl. "We can sense it."

Picking himself up into the skies, Lavos sneered, tightening his grip around the Atonement Blade that began to bleed the karmic laws over its edge.

"You already took one of her eyes. I'll not let you touch her again."

"Two hundred years I've hunted you. And yet you still think you're my match, how I loathe the likes of you. You'll die with that host." The young man lifted his spear and bolted like a beam of light towards Lavos, who clashed head-on like a fool.

Flashing over the town, slowly being overcome with Demonic Beast, flames swarmed the skies, with screams of women and children being cut down like weed. Blood painted the ruin as the great wall around the town began to crumble at the insane onslaught of monsters.

"Rami,' Lavos shouted as the pink-haired woman appeared, flashing her saber downwards in an arc of light. However, the Versi merely sneered as his spear met her strike mid-flight.

Holding my ground as a deafening shockwave shattered the earth and parted the skies, a wave of debris whipped over our faces, but neither Ezra nor I flinched as the darkness devoured everything around in response to any danger.

"Think you could handle them?"

"If you give me your blessing, I'll be able o fight evenly, but I don't think I'll win… although if I tap into fathers weapon, who knows."

"My blessing? What about Lucifer—"

"Heed my call, Goddess of Light, and grant me thy blessing!" Lavos howled, and like clockwork, a blinding pillar of light exploded off his body, parting heavens and earth. He whipped over the horizon at speeds that resembled instantaneous movement. Cutting deep into the young Versi's chest.

Blood rained from the skies following a dreadful cry of anguish as the karmic laws did their job. However, just as Lavos was about to finish the job, thousands of vines pierced upwards while vicious shards of ice came from above, trapping the acolyte of Mithra.

But akin to light bouncing off the mirror, Lavos whipped through the shards of ice without the slightest injury.

"What is that weapon!" Shouted the Versi, trying to mend his injuries with the wood element around his palm. " Why can't I heal!"

"Master," Whispered Ezra.

" I know," I said, peering into the forest, sensing a squad of Versi sitting in wait.

Tilting my head towards the sleeping Mel, I couldn't help but frown. Sensing nothing of relevance. That would require so many people hunting one person.

Is it in her soul?

"Should we help?"

Cracking my neck, I sighed. " I don't think the Versi will let us go, seeing how easy they slaughtered the people below. You help Lavos; I'll take care of the rest."

Pulling out the Atonement sword, I flicked my wrist, warming it up as I took to the skies with a smile.

"Hello. I'm sure I don't need to introduce myself. So I'll say this once. Stand down, or die."

Sensing fear dancing through the forest, the golden blade within my hand slowly became stained with black as abyssal runes began to appear around the blade's edge. Releasing a vicious chaotic qi, I chuckled, sensing no one flee from this king.

"So you've chosen death."