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/-\
Arthur rose slowly from the scorched earth, his dark cloak of shadow unfurling behind him, while Raven lifted effortlessly into the air, her dark aura flowing in controlled waves, eyes glowing faintly as Hell's wind twisted around her.
Behind them, the Shadow Marshals ascended.
Bellion's wings spread.
Galatea hovered with silent grace, her eyes scanning every tower and wall.
Beru's chitinous frame gleamed in the violet glow, mandibles clicking softly in excitement.
John Constantine walked through the now-yawning gates alongside Etrigan and Doom. Etrigan strode with a flaming blade in hand.
The City of Dis unfolded before them. It was beyond massive. It was obscene in scale.
Cathedrals of iron stretched miles high. Bridges of bone arched across chasms filled with sleeping legions. Entire districts spiraled upward in impossible geometry, towers layered upon towers, it was messy.
It should have been noisy and filled with demons, tens of millions of them.
Instead
Silence.
Bodies of demons lay strewn across plazas and balconies, wings folded, claws slack, weapons fallen.
A kingdom of nightmares… dreaming.
John stared up at the impossible skyline.
"Damn," he muttered, voice echoing faintly. "The place is like a ghost town on a larger scale. Literally."
He kicked a fallen spear aside.
"Dream is really something."
Arthur's voice carried from above, calmly.
"There are still many awake."
His violet eyes narrowed slightly as he scanned the city.
"Keep your eyes open."
Raven hovered at his side, sensing currents of resistance beneath the calm.
"Yes," she murmured. "They're hiding."
Arthur's gaze locked onto the distant tower at the heart of Dis rising higher than all others, crowned in a black and hellfire colors.
Neron's tower.
"Follow me," Arthur said.
And then
He accelerated.
A comet.
Violet fire erupted around him as he shot forward, ripping through the air and leaving a trail of darkness in his wake.
Raven followed instantly, shadow streaming behind her like wings of night.
John blinked.
"wait for me? …I'll be there. I kind of must."
He squinted up at the shrinking violet streak.
"Oh, damn it. He's gone."
He turned to Doom, who continued forward without visible reaction.
"Why is he like that?"
Doom said nothing.
He merely kept walking.
Etrigan chuckled lowly.
"The shadow flies where pride commands,
Unbound by roads or mortal plans."
John rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, cheers for the poetry mate."
Etrigan glanced toward a narrow alleyway between towering iron structures.
"Come. We must enter the palace as well."
John looked at him suspiciously.
"You know something don't you?"
Etrigan's lips curled faintly.
"I know a secret entrance."
John stopped walking.
"…You're joking."
The demon shook his head.
"The labyrinth of Dis I know by heart.
Its hidden veins, its shadowed part."
John stared at him.
"Why didn't you mention this earlier?"
Etrigan's grin widened slightly.
"The shadow prefers his path of flame.
To suggest another would be vain."
John sighed.
"Right on that. Of course. Dramatic entrances only."
Above them, the Shadow Marshals halted mid-air, sensing movement.
A tremor of presence rippled through the sleeping city.
Bellion's voice cut through their shared awareness.
"There."
From distant rooftops, several figures remained standing, ancient demons and lords whose power resisted Dream's influence, those that gave up on dreaming alltogther.
Their eyes burned with hatred.
Galatea's gaze sharpened.
"I see them."
Ultra followed her gaze. "They will cause trouble for the Monarch."
Beru was already on the move.
Bellion's tone was calm, authoritative.
"We split up, and cleanse this city of the filth."
He looked at each of them in turn.
"We must eliminate those who would interfere with the Monarch within this city."
His gaze shifted toward the palace tower.
"H'El, Igris, and Kamish are monitoring the First of the Fallen."
His voice darkened slightly.
"If he does anything… unwise."
Galatea nodded.
"Understood."
Bellion continued.
"They are also securing our base. Once the Monarch concludes his business, we regroup with them."
Ultra gave a silent nod.
Without further word, they scattered.
Galatea streaked toward a cathedral spire where a horned titan demon gathered flame. Ultra vanished in a violet blur toward a distant building. Beru dove like a meteor toward his targets. Bellion rose higher, surveying the battlefield like a general above a chessboard.
Below, John watched them split apart across the skyline.
"Bloody hell…" he muttered.
He shook his head slowly.
"I still can't get used to them, and how alive they feel."
He glanced toward the palace where Arthur's comet of violet fire slammed into the upper tower balcony in a controlled explosion of shadow.
"Terrifying power indeed…"
His expression shifted slightly.
"Arthur…"
There was awe there.
Beside him, Etrigan tightened his grip on his blade.
"The palace calls. The throne awaits.
Where shadow knocks… so tremble gates."
John exhaled.
"Right then. Secret entrance, is it?"
He adjusted his coat.
"Let's go crash a coronation."
****
TOWER OF DIS -
Arthur did not descend into the Tower of Dis so much as fall bringing destruction with him.
A comet of violet fire tore through the vaulted ceiling of the palace balcony, stone and infernal marble detonating outward in a violent explosion. Columns snapped and Blackened banners ignited midair. The impact shook the entire upper levels of the palace.
When the dust cleared, he stood at the epicenter of ruin.
Behind him, the balcony wall had caved inward, exposing a distant view of the sleeping city. Raven landed beside him in a whisper of shadow, cloak settling around her. Her boots touched the cracked marble without a sound.
Ahead of them, three figures waited.
Not common demons.
These were tall, armored beings, horns curved back like blades, eyes burning with contained hellfire. Arthur could tell they are very old.
Arthur regarded them as one might regard a misplaced decoration.
A spear materialized in his hand. Lightning coiled around it in arcs, violet and white.
He smiled.
"A different manner of welcome than I anticipated," he said smoothly, voice calm, almost conversational. "I had expected the so-called lord of this realm to greet me personally." His eyes glowed faintly violet. "Yet it seems he continues to hide. Even now."
The demons began walking forward in unison, each step cracking marble beneath armored heels.
One spoke.
"You will not reach the Lord of Hell."
Another's gauntlet ignited with hell flame.
"You shall end here, usurper."
Raven's eyes flared crimson.
The temperature dropped sharply.
Her cloak snapped outward as if caught in an unseen storm. Dark sigils spiraled around her arms.
"Begone," she said quietly.
Power answered.
A surge of black-violet magic erupted from her in a focused wave. The nearest demon barely raised its arm before the spell struck, its armor imploded, its form shredding into fragments of demonic essence that scattered like ash.
Silence followed for a moment.
The remaining two attacked regardless.
They moved faster than thought, weapons of hellfire carving arcs through the air
Arthur did not move, He did not even look at them.
His eyes glowed brighter.
Two violet flashes.
A displacement of air so sharp it cracked like thunder.
The demons froze mid-attack.
For a suspended second, their bodies remained upright.
Then their heads slid cleanly from their shoulders.
Both corpses collapsed behind him.
Arthur's spear dissolved into particles of shadow before the bodies even struck the ground.
He exhaled faintly, as though mildly inconvenienced.
Raven lowered her hands slowly, watching him from the corner of her eye. There was no triumph in her expression.
But the palace trembled again.
The severed forms twitched.
Dark smoke began pouring from the fallen demons, their essence refusing dissolution. The smoke gathered, condensed.
and rose.
Three shadowed silhouettes stood where the corpses had fallen. As Shadow Demons.
They regarded Arthur.
Then they bowed.
And stepped backward.
Their forms melted into the floor and flowed like ink toward him.
Raven's brow furrowed slightly.
The shadows reached Arthur's feet and were absorbed into his own.
His shadow thickened briefly. Deepened.
Then stilled.
Arthur began walking forward as though nothing had occurred.
Raven fell into step beside him.
The interior of the palace was vast beyond reason, corridors tall enough to house human cathedrals, pillars carved with screaming faces, chandeliers of suspended bone and ember. The scale dwarfed mortal architecture.
Arthur's gaze sharpened.
He could see it and feel it.
Several presences ahead ancient ones, watching.
Raven slowed slightly.
"I sense more than just demons ahead.." she murmured.
Arthur glanced at her without turning his head. "Clarify."
She narrowed her eyes, focusing past layers of wards.
"My kin."
her words were quiet.
Arthur's expression shifted, "Oh," he said softly. "Then it must be Belial."
He closed his eyes briefly.
The palace fell away to his perception. Walls became outlines. Heat became threads. Souls became flickers of light in darkness.
He opened them again.
A faint smile curved his lips.
"Yes. It is definitely him." A pause. "Curious. I wonder what he believes he is accomplishing here. This time he will not be so lucky."
A ripple moved through the hallways like a breath inhaled by something enormous.
Then
They came.
Horrors poured from archways, from cracks in the ceiling, from beneath the very floor. Twisted, elongated shapes of sinew and bone, faces stretched and hollow, too many limbs dragging across the floor. Dozens. Then hundreds.
They surrounded Arthur and Raven in an encroaching circle.
Every single one poised to strike.
Raven's cloak lifted again, energy building.
"Arthur!"
He did not stop walking.
He did not turn.
"Continue," he said calmly.
The horrors attacked as one.
Shadows erupted.
Not from the floor.
From him.
Spears of darkness shot outward in perfect geometric precision. Blades formed mid-air. Fists the size of battering rams manifested from the ground. Shadow clawed hands burst from walls.
Each horror was impaled mid-motion.
Pinned. Suspended by the shadows.
Skewered through skull, torso, limbs.
The entire corridor froze into a grotesque tableau of halted violence, an image
Their hollow faces twisted in silent shock.
Arthur passed between them, hands resting loosely at his sides.
Raven exhaled slowly, tension leaving her shoulders as she observed the immaculate control. Not a single strike had come close to touching them.
Behind them, the impaled horrors began dissolving into streams of darkness—flowing back toward Arthur's trailing shadow like tributaries returning to an ocean.
He spoke without looking back.
"Let us proceed."
Raven studied him for a moment the composure, the terrifying ease, the calm he carries with him.
Then she allowed herself a smile.
"Yes, Let's." she said softly.
/-\
If you Like this story! Check out my other stories! Solo leveling in Westeros.
&
If you wish to read more or simply support me than check out my patreon at
"https://www.patreon.com/FrenzyAren"
You can Get Access to 3 More Chapters OR 7 More Chapters if you want