Rise Of The Death Monarch

Dante stayed up late into the night, listening to all the swamp monsters roaring or making some other noise, echoing across the jungle they found themselves in. He couldn't see anything apart from the thorn bushes. His monsters lurked in the darkness, but soon enough, he joined Luna in the tent.

The wolf woman was comfortably curled up under a thick blanket, but her blue eyes snapped open as she spoke. ''Come join me, master.''

Without waiting, he did as she asked and spooned her. She melted into his embrace just as the rain got even heavier; it lashed against the tent, but their hideaway would stand firm, not failing them. The two of them were fast asleep as the Swamp Men brought back more bodies of powerful creatures that could be added to the Death Army.

***

While Dante slept, three people were meeting in a secret room within a castle deep inside Highreach City. A blonde woman who looked to be in her late thirties stood up, exclaiming. ''How is this possible! He cannot be alive, we are watching him burn.''

''Ash, calm down, my love,'' Ben tried to calm the agitated Time Mage. ''I'm sure Freddy's descendant wasn't lying, how would he know about Dante? He died two hundred years ago.''

Just then, Ben's other wife, Empress Serene, was sitting there, a horrified expression on her face as she scanned a Mana Device. It dropped to the ground as a nightmarish scene appeared in front of them. It was a backward city far to the east, burning to the ground as hordes of undead spread out.

''What is this place?'' Sasha, the old Homeroom Professor, questioned.

Ashley glanced at her and muttered as dread welled up inside. ''It is a faraway continent called Nemorath. It's controlled by a minor kingdom called Darkmoore, but that's not what's important, it's him,'' she said, pointing at the screen.

When the group saw this, their eyes bulged in a mix of emotions as they witnessed a white-haired young man killing several heroes with ease. Once the fight was over, he was covered in blood; they could hear his eerie laughing as she looked at him. He was now tall, handsome, and well built, thanks to the muscles straining through his shirt.

Ashley glanced at the boy she had loved many years ago and felt her heart hurt at the betrayal. He was different, she could clearly see it by the way he reveled in slaughter as she muttered. ''We created a monster that day, he was telling the truth all along, we killed the innocent boy who loved us, turning him into this Death Monarch.''

Just then, the screen snapped to a family huddling behind a sofa as Dante walked into the house. A brave young man rushed in his direction, a blade clutched in his hand, but the boy she knew dodged it, decapitating him with one slash of a dangerous-looking dagger that glinted with death.

They were all enraged as Michael jumped up. ''He's a monster, not even human anymore. It's like...''

''Death has a body to enact its will on our world,'' Serene commented with a tremble. ''I think father messed up by killing Dante, if the rumors are true, he destroyed every village, town, and city on that nightmarish continent where powerful monsters roam freely.''

When the group heard this, their faces paled as Ben revealed. ''Freddy told me that his grandson hasn't been the same since returning from the east, he's a shell of his former self and is being brought here by Fiona and Reece.''

Following that, they continued watching the scenes of destruction spreading in the east, forcing the empires and kingdoms to head west to look for alliances and powerful warriors to deal with the growing menace. Ashley was truly disturbed at the death he wrought, but her heart hurt when she saw Dante with two beautiful women.

They were clearly fawning over him, but he shooed them away until one scene where a brown-skinned wolf woman leaned over and kissed his cheek, sending her aura flaring at the scene. When the others sensed this, they gave her a strange look as Serene teased. ''Harem sister, is that jealousy I sense?''

''No it's not!'' she snapped back. ''It's over with him taking the lives of innocent people.''

''Just like you guys did?'' A stern voice echoed from the other side of the room.

Ashley turned to see her daughter, Giselle, standing there, her bright red hair and big blue eyes shone with disappointment as she continued. ''He was your lover, mother! How could you betray someone you love based on grandfather's stupid paranoia?''

No one said anything as the young woman went on, enraged. ''All I've heard about Dante is that he was a wonderful man, a caring lover, who loved his wolf Luna. Did he really do anything the stories said?''

None of the heroes said a word, causing her to look at Ben. ''And you, father? Killed your best friend, stole his lover, and spread fake stories about him? All for what? Power, riches, or mother?''

''It's not like that, Gis!'' The brown-haired man replied. ''He was a threat, too powerful to be controlled; he would've turned on us after some time.''

Giselle turned on the silent member of the famous nine. ''What about you, Aunty Amy? Was Dante as bad as they say?''

The green-haired woman stared at Ashley's daughter and sighed before shaking her head. ''No. He was innocent in all senses of the word. He wanted to retire down south with your mother and start a farm to grow food for the locals.''

''Interesting,'' Giselle muttered, turning her gaze toward the screen where Dante was shown butchering citizens of a far-flung kingdom.

She let out a weary sigh, about to speak, when the door burst open. Freddy strode in, trailed by a young man she recognized as the hero who had ventured east in service of the Light Goddess. Ashley shot to her feet, her voice sharp with urgency. ''You there! You've faced the Death Monarch. Tell us everything you know, now.''

Giselle watched the hero's relative tremble before mumbling. ''He's death brought to life, a being so evil that he makes the Demon King look like a child. The women who surround him are just as bad as him. They revel in death, celebrate butchering children, and the Death Monarch is horrifying to look at.''

'What in the goddess is he?' she thought, intrigued.

Ashley looked concerned and continued her questioning, only to be stopped by Freddy. ''Ash, enough! My grandson has had enough.''

Without warning, the air around the older man changed as gravity magic slammed him into the ground, and a sickening thud echoed out as the blonde woman responded, spitting venom. ''Shut the fuck up, Fred! He'll speak or I'll break your limbs again, and this time Fiona won't heal you because I'll hurt her as well.''

A scared squeak echoed out as a woman's voice echoed out. ''I won't heal him, Ash! Don't break my arm again.''

Gisella was weirded out as this is not how friends act with each other. She watched her mother nod before she questioned. ''Tell me what he looks like, we saw on the video, but it's not clear.''

She listened as the young man's voice wavered at first, then steadied as though the words themselves carried weight. ''He looked wrong. At first, you'd think he was handsome, short white hair like snow, skin pale as polished marble. His eyes burned, bright red, sharp enough to cut through the dark. But there was something beneath it. Something that wasn't human.''

He swallowed hard, shaking his head as if trying to chase away the memory. ''When he grew angry, his face broke apart, twisting into shadows, as if the night itself had crawled under his skin. That wasn't a man I saw. It was something else. Something that shouldn't exist.''

The room went still. His gaze turned to Ashley, and the fire in his eyes betrayed both fear and accusation. ''He remembers you, Empress. And hates you. Hates you so much that the mere mention of your name.''

His voice cracked, and his hands curled into fists. ''Killed my companions where they stood, only to be turned into wicked undead, used to kill other humans!''

When everyone heard this, the room went silent. Giselle froze, watching the way her mother's face twisted, shock first, then grief, anger, and something that almost looked like longing. A storm of emotions crossed her features in a heartbeat before she turned abruptly and swept out of the room.

Confused and uneasy, she hurried after her, following down the hall until her mother slammed her bedroom door. Giselle shoved it open before it could lock, stepping inside and forcing her mother to face her. For a long moment, silence stretched between them, broken only by her mother's uneven breathing.

Then, in a voice that sounded cracked and fragile, she confessed. ''I still love Dante. I always have. And I've hated myself every day for what I did, for betraying him, for standing there when they burned him alive.''

Tears welled in her eyes as she whispered. ''It should have been him, Giselle. You should have been his daughter, not Ben's.''