Shadow Monarch in DC Chapter 459: A Higher Being

Chapter 459: A Higher Being

Yogumunt’s laughter grew wild, echoing strangely around them as his body finished knitting itself back together. There was blood still on his lips, still dripping from his chin, but the confidence was still there, returned piece by piece as if pain itself ant nothing to him.

"You really believe you’re in control of this?" he said, "I have my ways to escape, Shadow Monarch, I always do."

His gaze flicked briefly toward the distant battlefield, toward the creeping devastation still spreading across the city.

"And besides..." he added, a cruel smile forming, "you don’t have ti to play interrogator. Querehsha’s little ’gift’ is still taking root. Every second you waste here is another step closer to this planet choking on it."

He spread his arms slightly, as if inviting the conversation.

"But why not," he went on, with an amused tone. "I’ll entertain you. Ask your questions."

His eyes glead.

"What is it you wish to know... before you’re left grieving over your planet’s ashes?"

Arthur exhaled slowly, almost tired, as if this entire exchange had already outlived its usefulness.

"The Dragon Monarch," he said. "You ntioned he’s absent. That he agreed to stand with you against the Rulers."

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"Where is he?"

Yogumunt’s smile twisted, his entire look changed to that of annoyance, perhaps even resentnt.

"He goes where he pleases," Yogumunt replied. "That’s always been his nature."

He let out a short, humorless chuckle.

"Even though he agreed to help, he wants to kill everything that dares stand in his way. Rulers, Monarchs... it doesn’t matter anymore. He looks at them now and sees nothing worth his ti."

His expression darkened.

"And that... irritates ... We’ve been locked in this war since the beginning. Endless conflict with an endless purpose."

He leaned forward slightly.

"And now he acts like it’s beneath him, all of it."

Yogumunt clicked his tongue.

"I don’t know if it’s arrogance... or if he truly believes he’s risen above all of it. But as long as he stands with us when it matters, I don’t care."

His eyes sharpened again, focusing back on Arthur.

"But you?" A sneer pulled at his lips.

"You refused us outright! And when he hears of that... even the Dragon Monarch won’t look kindly on it."

Arthur stared at him for a mont.

Then he laughed, it wasn’t loud, but it cut through the air in a way that made Yogumunt’s expression falter just slightly.

"Oh," Arthur said, almost to himself. "That answers everything."

He lifted his gaze again, settling into his eyes.

"So that’s how it is."

He took a step forward.

"The only ones left with true autonomy... are

and him it seems."

A faint smirk ford.

"I doubt he even calls himself Antares right now, just like I don’t call myself Ashborn."

His gaze hardened.

"Not like you."

Yogumunt’s brows drew together.

"What are you even talking about..."

"You inherited nas," Arthur cut in, voice becoming colder. "Inherited will, inherited purpose."

He tilted his head slightly.

"But you are not yourselves."

The spear in his hand lowered just enough to point directly at Yogumunt.

"And there it is," Arthur said quietly. "You don’t even realize it, do you?"

His eyes burned faintly violet now.

"The mont you gained that power... the person you were before disappeared."

Yogumunt’s expression tightened, sothing unsettled flickering beneath his irritation.

Arthur’s voice dropped,

"You have no will of your own, you’re not even original."

He paused for a mont.

"You guys are nothing but echoes of the past."

For the first ti since the conversation began, Yogumunt didn’t imdiately respond. His eyes narrowed, tension creeping into his stance as sothing about those words struck deeper than he wanted to admit.

Arthur didn’t give him ti to think.

He moved and the spear cut forward in a lethal arc,

And struck nothing.

Yogumunt vanished, his form dissolving into warped space just before the attack could connect.

Arthur’s strike carved through empty air.

For a fraction of a second, there was silence.

Then Arthur smiled.

"You really think that works on ?"

The shadows at his feet surged, and he disappeared.

.

.

.

High above the world, where the air thinned and the clouds stretched endlessly beneath the sky, space itself twisted as Yogumunt reappeared, already moving, already trying to put distance between himself and what he now understood was far more dangerous than he’d accounted for.

His breathing was uneven now, he didn’t make it far.

Arthur stepped into existence directly in front of him.

Yogumunt’s eyes widened, instinct screaming as he raised his arms,

Too late.

Arthur’s leg snapped upward in a brutal arc, the impact landing square across Yogumunt’s face with crushing force.

The sound alone cracked through the sky.

Yogumunt’s head whipped to the side as the strike connected, blood spraying into the air as his entire body was launched backward, spinning violently as he tore through the clouds.

The sky swallowed him as he tumbled, rotating uncontrollably, his vision blurring from the sheer force of the blow.

Arthur remained where he was, suspended in the air, completely still.

Yogumunt didn’t fall for long, he tore himself out of the spin mid-air, body snapping back into alignnt with a violent twist of magic as the sky itself warped around him.

He vanished again.

A mont later, he reappeared above an endless ocean, boots skimming the surface as waves roared beneath him. The horizon stretched wide and empty, the world montarily calm.

Then Arthur stepped into existence behind him.

Without delay, he was inevitable.

Yogumunt’s eyes widened as he twisted, barely bringing up a barrier of warped mana before Arthur’s spear struck. The impact cracked through the shield, shattering it like glass and forcing Yogumunt back across the water in a violent skid that split the sea itself in his wake.

"How...?" Yogumunt hissed, vanishing again before the follow-up strike could land. "I’m covering my mana!"

They were in the mountains now.

He reappeared high above jagged peaks, cold air biting, clouds drifting lazily around him as he steadied his breathing. His hands ignited with magic instantly, layers upon layers of spells forming in rapid succession, defensive, offensive, spatial distortions stacked on top of each other.

Arthur appeared again.

Closer this ti.

Yogumunt didn’t even hesitate. He unleashed everything.

The sky turned violent.

Firestorms roared into existence, massive torrents of fla twisting like living beasts as gravity itself bent under his will, crushing downward in invisible waves ant to pin, break, annihilate massive numbers. Lightning split the sky, arcane constructs forming and collapsing in rapid succession as he threw everything he had into overwhelming Arthur before he could close the distance.

Arthur walked through it.

He was never untouched, but unaffected in the way that mattered.

He moved between the spells, weaving through collapsing gravity wells and twisting firestorms with grace, shadows trailing his every motion. The flas curled around him but never consud him.

Yogumunt’s breath hitched.

"How are you doing THIS?!"

Arthur didn’t answer him.

He raised his spear, and hurled it.

The weapon tore through the fire storm like it didn’t exist, piercing straight through the heart of Yogumunt’s largest spell. The entire construct collapsed in an instant, the flas dispersing violently as the spear punched through them.

And into Yogumunt’s chest.

The impact was catastrophic.

The force alone drove him backward like a teor, his body dragged across the sky as the spear carried him for miles, tearing through clouds, shattering the air itself with the sheer velocity, Yogumunt tried to get rid of it but failed.

Until it pinned him against a mountainside.

The explosion that followed split the peak.

Stone erupted outward, the mountain face collapsing in a thunderous cascade as Yogumunt’s body was driven deep into it, the spear anchoring him there.

For a mont, there was only the sound of falling rock.

Then Arthur stepped through the smoke.

The wind howled around him, carrying ash and dust as he erged, clad in shadow amor, his ashen white hair moving with the storm as violet light burned steadily in his eyes.

He stopped in front of Yogumunt, too close.

One boot ca down, pressing firmly against Yogumunt’s face, forcing his head back against the shattered stone.

Arthur reached forward and gripped the shaft of his spear.

With a sharp pull, he ripped it free.

Yogumunt’s body jerked, blood spilling as the wound began to close, but slower now. Much slower.

Arthur tilted his head slightly, studying him.

"I understand your frustration," he said, voice calm despite the devastation around them. "But like I told you..."

His gaze sharpened.

"We might both be Monarchs."

A faint pulse of shadow spread outward from him.

"But I’m a higher being compared to you."

"That’s all you need to understand."

Yogumunt coughed, blood spilling from his lips as he forced a grin through the pain, even as his body struggled to regenerate properly under the pressure of Arthur’s presence.

"...Higher being..." he muttered, almost laughing. "Arrogant... even now..."

Arthur didn’t react.

He simply lifted his spear again.

"Die with dignity," he said.

Then, almost as an afterthought,

"If it’s any comfort... the Rulers will follow you."

Yogumunt’s eyes flickered.

Arthur’s voice didn’t change.

"If they beco a threat to , I’ll erase them too."

For a second, sothing unreadable passed through Yogumunt’s expression.

Then, slowly...

He smiled, accepting of his fate.

"So... be it..."

His eyes closed.

Arthur then drove his spear forward in a single, decisive thrust, straight through Yogumunt’s heart.

The impact echoed through the mountain sending an electric wave all over it, then Yogumunt’s body began to break apart, dissolving into fragnts of fading mana, the remnants of his existence scattering into the wind like ash.

The smile never left his face.

And then, he was gone as Arthur stood there in silence, the spear still in his hand, the storm slowly settling around him as the mountain finished collapsing in the distance as Another Monarch was gone.

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