'Abbadon, where are we?' Gurvel asked fearfully, holding onto the lining of my robes. "Eons, it's been.'

  'Eon?' I uttered at home surrounded by night in this Temple of Eternal Darkness 'yes…… eons…… it matters not, we must head deeper.'

  'But,'

  'Deeper,' I urged through this ethereal land of familiarity……

  "Abbadon, don't do this. Please, I am begging you!" Gurvel desperately bellowed, screaming, kicking, and clawing at my arm as we stood before a gate. "WE have to run! RUN!!!"……

  "Why?"……

  'My name is Arsene Snow, and I am but a shadow…… .'……

  Snapping my eyes open, the dry taste of blood touched upon my lips as I gagged, coughing up another mouth full of blood. Still woozy, I fell face-first into my blood, watching as bobbles begin to rise.

  "I hate my life," I grunted, using all my strength to flip over onto my back. Groaning at the intense pain, comparable to someone pealing the skin from my body, I moaned.

  "Your awake?" Baphomet mocked with a cheeky smile sitting in a meditative position.

  "You didn't heal me?" I complained after a few seconds of catching my breath.

  "Ask the Ring of Bael; let it cast a few Circles to heal you. I have zero interest in babying you, but I am surprised you are alive. " Baphomet admitted smiling. "You were breaking down, yet here you are."

  "Your a shitty bastard," I grunted restlessly, gasping for air. "But I didn't know it could do that. It seems I am still unworthy."

  "no shit,"

  "Dick,"

  Baphomet shrugged, rising from off the cold baren ground, "When are you heading to the next level?"

  "Too scared to go ahead?" I jeered, chanting the Path of Abyssal Night deeply in my heart to mend my broken body from the Spear of Noctem.

  "One would think, but you may be right," He motionlessly told, but there was something off about his reaction, or at least as odd to me.

  For all this insanity, Baphomet was one to act on, well, not on instincts but rather desire. Was he terrified? No, that seems unlikely, fear while an instinct demons and Devil hold dear to it, there should be more to it. He is hiding something.

  Touching his beard, he turned to me with a wicked smile, "You done? Or are there more theories you wish to go over in that head of yours?"

  I love the cold, crave it, really, but this chill in my soul was burning hotter than any flame I felt before. Feeling his chilling stare burning me alive, I narrowed my eyes, not daring to back away from his stare.

  Finding the strength within me, the hand that held the Ring of Bael flopped onto my lips as a small pill fell from the ring of Bael and upon the tip of my tongue, melting into a liquid the moment it touched my saliva.

  Flopping a little lifelessly down, I sighed as my injuries began to heal faster than I could even imagine, yet the weariness and pain did not fade. Nevertheless, the pain was a natural part of life, and I needed to make it to the next level.

  Shutting my eyes, I returned to a land of darkness; I had returned to Tenebrae's embrace. Welcoming me into her arms once more, a warm aura began to expel Bahpomet's chill, along with my weariness.

  The pain still remained, but I was never one to complain about pain, or was I? My past still remains the biggest mystery I-VI. I was apparently part of the numbers of some organization. Then there are billions of other lifetimes I went through.

  'He killed one of us,' said a soft, gentle voice from the night.

  Snapping my eyes open, I rushed to my feet, staring off in confusion. Seeing only Bahophet there, I frowned. Who said that?

  "Bad Dream?" Baphomet observed, "No, such a look. Your mask is breaking, Snow. It has been for a while now. Tell me what it is you remember of the cycles we spent together.

  "Is there a damn point? not like you will tell me anything about it." I coldly declared, touching my pale skin, covered in a heavy sweat.

  No offense to the Beast King, but he is not really on my side. If something is wrong with me, Baphomet will not help in a way I can truly rely on. Shit, these days, I cannot even trust myself.

  Baphomet snickered, shaking his head dismissively, "Truly boy, you only have a few allies, and none of them particularly like you, except for me. Those from the Bed of Chaos are but lost sheep. Even when the Gates of Illuthath opens, they will be lambs to the other Planes."

  "Is this where you say I can only rely on you?"

  "Come now, Arsene, mockery will get you nowhere. I have another deal for you."

  I could only shake my head, "No—no more deals. I am done dealing with you all. My hands are already full with Yael and this new so-called God, asking for death."

  "The deal, my boy," Baphomet continued, ignoring my earlier words, "I want a bone of yours. Not now, but at the very end."

  "The End?" I repeated, confused by what he meant.

  "Indeed. I am a master in the mystic Arts Arsene. I see and hear things you cannot even begin to fathom as of yet. I hold no interest in this war, aside from killing Raziel in order to keep Lord Lucifer out of the Hells."

  "but why my bone?"

  "To make a weapon or an artifact, of course. Many will ask you for something, Arsene. You will gain enemies and many allies on the way. And I am not speaking of those from the Bed of Chaos. True allies from other Planes." Bahopomet revealed, staring firmly into my eyes. "Many are already looking for you."

  "What! Why?"

  "Because you are the next Monarch of Darkness, and one of the two beings in creation that only exist on a Higher Plane. I don't know how it came to be, but you and Lilith exist as higher beings for some reason."

  Scrunching my brow, a deep realization hit me. The reason Julius time Dao had worked on me. It all made a little sense and why he said those words.