Chapter 611: The Man Behind the Monarch

The Realm of Fire - The Dragon Monarch’s Throne

The realm was a crucible of eternal flame, mountains of obsidian rose from seas of molten rock, their peaks crowned with fire that never dimmed. The sky was a churning canopy of crimson and gold, lit by no sun but by the sheer, radiant heat of the land itself. Rivers of lava carved paths through the black stone, their glow illuminating the thousands of dragons that circled overhead, they were all massive and ancient.

At the center of it all, on a throne carved from the heart of a volcano, sat the Dragon Monarch.

He was still, his form silhouetted against the inferno, his red hair moving gently in the superheated wind, each strand appearing as though it were woven from living flame. His draconic armor glowed with fire. His eyes piercing and serpentine, with dark slits that cut through the glare, they were fixed on something in the distance, something beyond the realm itself.

A dragon descended from the sky, its scales the color of magma, its wings folding as it landed before the throne. It was massive, easily the size of a small mountain, but it bowed its head with the deference of a servant before a god.

"My King," the dragon rumbled, its voice like grinding stone. "What shall we do?"

The Dragon Monarch laughed.

"The Rulers are foolish," he said. "Trying to control the being who managed to become the concept of Death itself without resorting to my help." He paused, his eyes gleaming with amusement. "Now he is gone, and he has given the other fragments of primordial darkness to his friends. Smart. And equally foolish."

The dragon tilted its head. "Foolish, my King?"

"He gave the armies and the worlds of the monsters new rulers." The Dragon Monarch’s smile widened. "As if he is trying to change our nature. As if he believes that putting a kind face on a throne will make the beasts beneath it any less savage."

He rose from his throne, his body towering over the dragon even though he was in human form, his presence alone was radiating power. The flames around him surged, responding to his will.

"He is wrong. They will always be savages who crave blood and war. And destruction!" He paused, his voice dropping to a whisper that somehow carried across the entire realm. "That is what they are. That is what they will always be."

The dragon’s voice was careful. "Then what would you have us do, my King?"

The Dragon Monarch turned, his gaze sweeping across the legions of dragons that filled the sky, their forms silhouetted against the crimson light.

"Maybe we should join this fight." He paused, his eyes narrowing. "I don’t like the Rulers. They meddle with everything. The Shadow Monarch is making sure they are removed from the picture entirely.. but I wonder if he realizes their influence extends far beyond his Earth."

Another dragon landed beside the first, larger, older, its scales scarred from countless battles. One of his lieutenants. Its voice was a low rumble.

"Are you saying he will manage to defeat the armies of the Rulers, my Monarch?"

The Dragon Monarch smiled.

"Oh, but of course." He waved a hand dismissively. "The bastard can fight well, despite his lack of conviction, despite his stupid entanglements and attachments to his planet." He paused, his voice dropping. "That is his only weakness really... and it will be the end of him."

He turned, walking slowly around his throne, the flames parting before him like water before a ship.

"The Rulers also suffer from that same weakness. They are soft. They have spent millennia convincing themselves that they are the good guys, that their control is justified, that their methods are necessary. They have forgotten what it means to be truly ruthless." His eyes blazed. "If I wanted to kill the Shadow Monarch, I would have done it long ago. But no."

He stopped, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon, on something beyond the realm of fire, beyond the boundaries of reality itself.

"I wanted him to get stronger. So that when the time comes to claim his primordial darkness for myself, it will be adequate." His voice dropped to a whisper. "And then I will be the greatest being in the multiverse."

The dragons around him shifted, their wings rustling, their eyes gleaming.

"For now," the Dragon Monarch continued, "let him kill the Rulers. Let him exhaust himself against their armies. True Darkseid and a couple of other unwanted beings are after his head. Some want more than that." His voice hardened. "Naturally, I won’t allow it. Because I also seek their destruction and he is still useful to me."

He turned to face his lieutenants, his eyes blazing with cold fire.

"My dear lieutenants, we have a job to do."

The dragons bowed their heads, their voices a chorus of obedience.

"We will heed your commands, O Great One."

The Dragon Monarch smiled.

"I will send a group of you," he said. "Never enter the war unless you are sure the Rulers are about to lose. Gather there once it happens, and I will come and claim everything for myself."

He raised his hand, and the flames around him surged, a column of fire that seemed to touch the very sky.

"Go."

The dragons spread their wings and flew off, their forms disappearing into the crimson light, their roars echoing across the realm.

The Dragon Monarch watched them go, his smile never fading.

"Can’t let you take all the glory now, can I?" he said to himself.

He turned, walking into the flames, his form disappearing into the inferno.

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THE CHOAS WORLD -

The ridge was far enough from the muster field that the noise of the army had faded to a low distant thunder. It rose above the chaos plains, a spine of black stone that jutted from the ground like the rib of some ancient, buried god. From up here, the fires of the encampment spread across the horizon, thousands of points of light, arranged in neat clusters by faction, a tapestry of war waiting to be unfurled.

Arthur sat near the edge, one leg drawn up, the other hanging over the drop. His cosmic shadow armor had receded, leaving him in simple dark clothing, the wind tugging at his ashen hair. The violet glow of his eyes had dimmed to something almost human. He looked, for once, like a man. Not a Monarch, not Death.

Just tired.

He heard them before he saw them, Kara’s footsteps, light and sure, and Raven’s, quieter. They crested the ridge behind him and stopped.

Kara spoke first, her voice warm.

"Why are you isolating yourself?"

Arthur didn’t turn. "I’m only thinking about our next moves."

Raven moved to his side and sat down, her dark robes pooling around her on the stone. "Just relax." She tilted her head back, looking up at the shifting, impossible colors of the sky. "They’re nothing we can’t handle."

Arthur glanced at her. A small smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. "Glad to see you so confident these days." He looked back out at the fires. "But I still have to apologize for dragging you all into this."

Kara sat down on his other side, close enough that their shoulders touched. "Nonsense." She said it lightly, "Who would watch your back if we weren’t here?"

Raven’s smile sharpened. "We’re doing this for a good cause."

Arthur exhaled. "In a way, I did force an enormous responsibility on all of you. I know that." He paused, watching a distant flare of firelight flicker across the plains. "But I saw no other choice. Someone had to inherit these powers. And you’re the people I trust most." A beat. "Minus Frost and Ivy. But you know what I mean."

Raven laughed. "Of course." She shifted, drawing her knees up, resting her chin on them. "The Rulers are threatening my world. And my man. That’s reason enough for me to go to war against them on my own."

Kara nodded, "We won’t let anyone get in the way of our family. For a better future for Aurora.. I’d go to war with them alone too."

Arthur laughed, the sound of a man who had almost forgotten he was allowed to make it. "Oh, she’s actually smiling now. While a bunch of shadow demons are guarding her in the World of Eternal Slumber."

Raven snorted. "She’s going to end up drawing demons instead of fairies."

"Yeah." Arthur rubbed the back of his neck. "Good point. I’ll think about that later."

Kara laughed beside him, leaning in a little more. For a moment, none of them said anything. The three of them sat there on the black stone, the fires of the army spread out below, the sky churning above, and for that one suspended minute, the war felt very far away.

Kara broke the silence first. "So. Do you have a plan for our next course of action?"

Arthur nodded slowly. "The armies of the Rulers will arrive soon. This world is already dead, no cities, no people, nothing left to lose." He gestured vaguely at the plains below. "So a battle of this scale won’t affect it much. You can all go all out if you want. No need to be holding back."

Raven was quiet for a moment, then spoke more carefully. "What about your plan. Are you sure you want us to do that to you, eventually?" She turned her head to look at him. "Aren’t you worried someone like the Dragon Monarch would use the opportunity to get rid of you?"

Arthur’s expression didn’t change, but something behind his eyes sharpened, shift of a mind that had already run the scenario a hundred times. "I took every possible outcome into consideration. I didn’t forget about him. Or True Darkseid. Or anyone else who’s been waiting for a moment that I’m weak, last time it happened The Dragon Monarch ended up helping me with Empty Hand, I don’t think he’ll do that again with the Rulers."

Raven let out a breath and looked back up at the sky. "When can we really just relax and not worry about these bastards?"

Arthur’s smile returned. "Soon enough."

Kara leaned into his shoulder, her head settling against him like it belonged there. Her voice was soft.

"I hope so."

Arthur didn’t answer. He just let her stay there, one arm coming up around her, and Raven, after a moment, let herself drift a little closer on his other side. None of them said anything else.

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