Rise of the Lustful Evil Monarch (Re)

Third Person's POV

It was controlling the goblin's corpse.

The sheer act of maintaining its fractured existence in this world while simultaneously manipulating the reanimated goblin commander must have been pushing its limits.

A plan took root in Ethan's mind.

He projected the skull entity that declared himself as Zarghul's grotesque form, its three-horned skull projection, and the sinister Dark Soul Energy that fueled its existence directly into the Eterna Nexus.

Within the depths of his mind space, silver slivers of light flickered and wove through the dark void, resembling stars scattered across a night sky. It was a new addition to the once-unbroken darkness of his subconscious.

Ethan knew this phenomenon had only just manifested and was a direct result of his close proximity to Zarghul and the inevitable absorption of Dark Soul Energy released by the undead body of the goblin commander into his body.

At the very core of his mindscape, the hexagonal Eterna Nexus floated unchanged like an unshaken monument despite two years of the perils and growth he had experienced.

Still radiating a seven-colored glow, it illuminated the depths of his consciousness like an ever-present enigma that was neither comprehensible nor ignorable.

Like the Earth orbiting the Sun, the crystal washbasin-shaped soul crystal that he had discovered in the DuskWither's internal dimension within the Astral Realm still circled around the Nexus, its path steady and deliberate.

Yet, for all the changes within him, the Eterna Nexus remained as still and unyielding as ever like an indifferent beacon that neither guided nor forsook him.

But Ethan had no doubts.
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He projected the information forward and hoped for any answer, a reaction, or anything useful as he knew that his normal methods were not working.

Meanwhile, the evil entity named Zarghul itself was lost in contemplation and confusion clouded its thoughts.

How is this possible? A mere Elemental Sea being is absorbing my Dark Soul Energy?

A lesser being like him should have gone mad the instant they touched it, and their sanity should have shattered beyond recovery.

Yet this boy stands firm and unbroken before me and even seems to be emboldened by my Dark Soul Energy.

Once more, the premonition of danger it had perceived through the Astral Realm stirred suddenly grew clearer and even more insistent.

The premonition had been true. There was something about this boy—something invaluable but dangerous too.

I have to be careful.

After thousands of years of preparation and plans and aided by the cursed Blood Moon, it had finally been able to pierce this world's boundary and infiltrate this world with but a fraction of its essence.

To be vanquished now, after such efforts? Unacceptable.

It had to ensure this wisp of consciousness survived to manifest fully and was able to thrive and grow stronger in this world.

Perhaps Ethan's absorption was a fluke, an anomaly. So, it decided to test him again.

Crimson light erupted from the skull's eye sockets and swirled into existence before they split into seven rotating skulls with each one identical to Zarghul itself.

Their hollow sockets ignited and were consumed by an eerie and ever-burning gray flame whose terror was well known in the galaxy as the Netherflame of Eternal Woe.

These flames had a specialty and it was that they devoured not just the body but the very essence of one's soul and fed on torment without end.

The skulls shrieked and they shot toward Ethan as their gaping maws exhaled waves of soul-burning corruption.

They were like harbingers of death as they spiraled through the air in an eerie and synchronized dance of destruction.

Ethan's dark storm wings flared open and propelled him into the air as he dodged the swarm of crimson skulls.

Yet, despite the distance he put between himself and the flaming skulls, an unnatural chill wrapped around his soul and made his every instinct scream in danger.

The sheer presence of the Netherflame of Eternal Woe sent shivers down his spine and whispered of an end far worse than death.

This was an abyss of suffering and a fire that did not merely burn flesh but consumed existence itself.

Though he didn't know all that, he could feel its danger.

He gritted his teeth.

He didn't know but the fact was that even if an ember of this flame so much as grazed him, it would torment him first and rip his soul apart bit by bit before it would erase him completely.

And Ethan couldn't let that happen.

His grip tightened around his broken saber, and with a fierce slash, he unleashed a barrage of Shadow Frost Crescents.

Tens of streaks of blackened ice curved through the air, like crescent moons cut from a frozen void and headed straight toward the swarm of eerie, laughing crimson skulls.

This was no mere technique but it was an ability that he had forged through battle and refined through two years of relentless survival.

Unlike his usual method of augmenting his saber and daggers with magic power for melee strikes, this spell merged his blade with arcane devastation and gave it the raw force to carve through magic itself.

It was an air-to-air magic technique that the human mages specialized in and were known for in this world.

The first skull met the icy crescent head-on and exploded into a cloud of dark mist.

Yet even as its form shattered, the infernal core of its flame continued to burn and twist in the air like a ghost refusing to be exorcised.

The second skull, wreathed in those cursed flames, burned even brighter in response as it absorbed the naked wisp of that gray flame and grew even stronger on feeding upon the destruction of its kin.

With a ghastly grin, it lunged forward and intercepted one of the Shadow Frost Crescents in its jagged teeth.

Frost spread along its bony teeth and cheeks as it attempted to freeze the sinister fire.

But then, a single ember from the Netherflame in its hollow eye socket flickered and dropped onto the ice.