Morning sunlight filtered faintly through the upper glass panels of Arthur's estate, but far beneath the mansion itself, deep underground the atmosphere was entirely different.
The meeting chamber was enormous.
Polished floors reflected white lighting embedded into the walls while massive screens floated silently across one side of the room displaying damaged districts of Gotham, casualty reports, magical readings, and images captured during the battle against the Monarchs.
Despite the modern technology, the place still carried Arthur's presence everywhere.
Minimalistic, elegant and powerful.
The long table at the center of the room was occupied only by people Arthur genuinely trusted. Clark sat with his arms crossed calmly, already dressed in civilian clothes. Bruce remained characteristically unreadable beside him, fingers lightly resting against the table while several holographic files floated beside his seat. Diana sat with composed grace.
Raven leaned back quietly in her chair beside Arthur, one leg crossed over the other while Kara sat nearby wearing one of Arthur's oversized black hoodies over casual clothes, still looking slightly sleepy despite trying very hard to appear serious.
George moved around the room with absolute elegance carrying a silver tray.
"Master Kent," he said smoothly while placing coffee beside Clark, "extra sugar as requested."
Clark blinked.
"I didn't request..."
Bruce lowered his head slightly to hide the fact he almost smiled.
George then placed tea before Diana.
"Princess."
"Thank you."
Then whiskey before Bruce.
Bruce looked at him.
"It's nine in the morning."
George nodded politely.
"I anticipated your requirements regardless, sir."
Bruce silently accepted the glass.
Arthur watched all of this with amusement before finally leaning forward slightly in his chair.
"There are some pieces of information I want to share with all of you."
His voice remained calm, and everyone present focused instantly.
"First of all…"
Arthur looked around the table.
"You all did exceptionally well."
Kara glanced toward him immediately.
Clark remained attentive.
Even Bruce slightly narrowed his eyes listening.
Arthur continued.
"The Monarchs expected chaos, fear and confusion. They expected Earth's defenders to collapse under pressure while I remained dealing with the others in the Dimensional Gap, this was all a failed attempt at ambushing me."
His glowing violet eyes shifted briefly toward Bruce.
"But your resistance disrupted their entire plan."
Then toward Clark.
"Clark held the line even after being poisoned."
Toward Raven and Kara.
"You two managed to weaken two Monarchs despite fighting at a severe disadvantage."
Toward Diana.
"The League kept the planet from completely collapsing alongside the Hunters who stabilized the city despite their lack of experience, they have only dealt with minor gates after all, while this was something they will remember forever."
Arthur leaned back slightly afterward.
"You bought me enough time to make sure I could eliminate the Monarchs swiftly once I arrived."
The room remained silent for a second before Diana finally spoke.
"You mentioned before that there are eight Monarchs in total."
Arthur nodded once.
"Correct. And we have eliminated four, one died in another world by my hands."
His eyes darkened slightly at the memory.
"The other three died here during the invasion."
Bruce finally spoke.
"Which leaves four remaining."
Arthur nodded again.
"And unfortunately…"
His tone hardened slightly.
"The remaining four are arguably the most dangerous among them, one being clearly different from the rest."
Kara frowned.
"Great."
Clark sighed quietly.
Arthur extended a hand and several glowing violet symbols appeared in the air above the table.
"The Giant Monarch, Legia."
A massive armored figure materialized in holographic form.
"He commands an army of giants. Extremely durable and extremely strong. Their size is not a weakness... it's a weapon, these monsters are not mindless, we should always remember this."
The image shifted, A horned demon king surrounded by hellfire appeared next.
"Baran. Monarch of White Flames."
Even Diana's eyes narrowed slightly at the pressure radiating from the image alone.
"He commands demonic legions numbering in the millions."
Raven folded her arms.
"He sounds annoying already... we've dealt with hell creatures, I can already see what he can do..."
Arthur almost smiled.
"He is annoying."
The image shifted again.
A tall pale figure cloaked in frost emerged.
"The Frost Monarch."
Kara immediately recognized him.
"The coward you mentioned."
Arthur nodded slightly.
"I wounded him badly before returning here, but he managed to escape me."
Bruce's eyes sharpened.
"He'll regroup with the others I assume."
"Yes."
Arthur's expression darkened further afterward.
"And finally…"
The room itself got silent before the final image even appeared.
Then the hologram changed.
A massive dragon silhouette slowly formed above the table.
Red eyes, towering wings. A presence that felt ancient and violent in nature.
Even Clark's expression subtly changed seeing it.
"The Dragon Monarch."
Arthur's voice became quieter somehow.
"Monarch of Destruction."
Nobody interrupted him, not even Bruce.
Arthur slowly stood from his seat.
"He commands the largest army among all Monarchs, and the strongest by far."
The dragon's image expanded larger above them.
"Dragons, Dragonkin beasts, Ancient creatures capable of wiping out civilizations."
Then Arthur looked directly toward Bruce.
"And unlike the others who wishes to avoid me…"
His eyes glowed brighter.
"He will desire to kill me, so a fight between us is inevitable."
That line alone made the room fall silent.
Bruce leaned slightly forward.
"You're giving him more attention than any enemy you've mentioned before."
Raven nodded slightly.
"I noticed too."
Diana crossed her arms.
"Is he truly that powerful?"
Clark finally spoke.
"You're really worried about him."
Arthur looked toward Clark for a moment before answering honestly.
"Yes."
That answer alone unsettled everyone more than they expected.
Because Arthur Blackwynd almost never admitted concern.
Bruce's voice remained calm.
"I need to understand what he's capable of."
Arthur stared at the dragon image silently for a few seconds.
Then he finally spoke.
"I'm afraid even my memory of him is outdated now."
His tone became colder.
"He is certainly stronger than he was before."
Then Arthur slowly extended his hand.
"It would be easier to show you than explain."
Kara blinked.
"…Show us?"
Arthur's violet eyes ignited.
The entire underground chamber suddenly trembled.
Reality itself seemed to change, the walls dissolved into darkness.
The table vanished, the lights disappeared.
And suddenly,
They were somewhere else, the group immediately stood instinctively.
Kara's eyes widened.
Clark looked around carefully.
Diana's hand moved toward her sword.
Bruce remained still but visibly alert, the world around them was horrifying.
An endless battlefield stretched beneath a black-red sky filled with burning clouds and falling embers. Massive structures burned in the distance while colossal armies clashed across ruined landscapes.
Dragons filled the skies, Giants marched through fire.
Entire mountains had been shattered.
The air itself smelled of death.
And standing beside them calmly amidst that apocalyptic world was Arthur.
His voice echoed quietly through the burning winds.
"This…"
His glowing violet eyes reflected the war unfolding around them.
"…is a memory from a very distant past."
A dragon's roar suddenly thundered across the heavens so loudly the world itself seemed to shake.
Even Superman instinctively looked upward sharply.
Arthur's gaze slowly lifted toward the burning sky.
"Watch carefully."
Massive shadows moved through crimson clouds overhead while storms of fire illuminated the horizon in violent flashes. Entire mountains crumbled in the far distance beneath impacts so catastrophic they resembled natural disasters more than combat. The ground itself shook every few moments beneath the endless march of armies.
The dragons, dozens of them, hundreds.
Some were large enough to eclipse entire fortresses beneath their wings as they tore through the burning skies like living calamities. Even Bruce, despite all his years facing impossible things, remained completely still for a moment.
Not because he was afraid, but because his mind was trying to comprehend the sheer scale of this.
Clark's eyes tracked one of the creatures flying across the clouds while distant explosions reflected against his face.
"That thing…"
His voice carried genuine disbelief.
"It's enormous."
The dragon folded its wings midair and descended like a meteor into a cluster of glowing winged humanoid knights flying through the sky.
The impact alone vaporized the landscape beneath them.
A second later, fire erupted.
A torrent of white-gold destruction burst from the dragon's mouth and swept across the battlefield like divine punishment.
The heavenly soldiers caught in it didn't even have time to scream.
They simply vanished, Diana's eyes widened slightly.
Even she looked unsettled, the Amazon princess had witnessed gods at war.
She had stood against beings that could reshape worlds.
Yet this felt… Crueler.
Bruce's gaze sharpened upward toward the skies.
"These Dragons…"
His voice remained low despite the destruction unfolding around them.
"…fighting what appears to be humanoid flying knights."
Arthur stood beside them calmly while burning embers drifted through the air around his dark figure.
"They are called Heavenly soldiers."
Bruce glanced toward him.
Arthur's glowing violet eyes reflected the war above them.
"The army of the eternal enemies of the Monarchs."
Another explosion thundered somewhere across the battlefield.
"The Rulers."
As if reacting to Arthur's words, the skies suddenly erupted again.
A massive formation of radiant warriors descended through the clouds wielding glowing spears and enormous wings of white-gold light. Their presence alone pushed back the darkness around them while magic circles illuminated across the heavens.
Kara actually took a small step back seeing it.
"…They're beautiful."
Raven crossed her arms beside Arthur, though even she seemed disturbed by the sheer scale of the memory.
"Beautiful doesn't usually come with mass genocide."
One of the heavenly soldiers raised his weapon, then vanished instantly.
A dragon tore through him at impossible speed, jaws crushing both armor and body before hurling the remains into the burning earth below.
Clark stared upward silently.
He could hear everything, the screams, the roars.
The sound of this world dying.
And somehow that made it worse.
"This isn't a battle…"
His expression hardened.
"It's like I'm watching an extinction."
Arthur didn't answer immediately.
Because Clark was right, this was one of the worlds they chose as their fighting grounds.
Diana suddenly pointed toward one particular dragon soaring high above the battlefield.
It was larger than the others.
Covered in black-red scales with fire leaking from beneath its armor-like skin.
Every flap of its wings created storms.
Its roar alone shattered distant structures.
"Is that him?"
Her voice carried caution now.
"The Dragon Monarch?"
Arthur looked toward the creature.
Then smiled faintly.
"No."
That answer immediately drew everyone's attention.
Arthur's eyes remained fixed on the colossal dragon tearing through armies overhead.
"That's merely one of his ancient dragons, I have one in my shadow army."
A dragon below unleashed another inferno across the battlefield, killing over a dozen heavenly soldiers instantly.
Arthur continued calmly, "It isn't even one of his lieutenants."
They got silent.
Even Bruce stopped speaking.
Kara slowly looked toward Arthur.
"…You're joking."
Arthur didn't smile this time.
"I wish I was."
Another dragon suddenly slammed into the ground several miles away, and the impact alone created a shockwave powerful enough to flatten forests.
Diana's expression grew heavier.
"That creature alone could devastate nations."
Arthur nodded once.
"Yes."
Then he looked upward again.
"And there are thousands of them."
Clark finally tore his eyes away from the battlefield to look directly at Arthur.
"You fought in this?"
Arthur's expression remained unreadable.
"For a very long time."
Bruce narrowed his eyes carefully.
"And survived..."
Arthur gave the smallest shrug imaginable.
"I haven't the Dragon Monarch, more like we fought side by side... it's a long story, I know you are all confused but I will tell you in time."
That answer unsettled Bruce more than anything else he had heard so far.
Because Arthur Blackwynd did not say things like that lightly.
Raven glanced toward Arthur quietly.
She truly started understanding what those years inside the Dimensional Gap must have looked like.
Another explosion shook the world around them violently.
This time the skies themselves cracked apart.
A beam of golden energy descended from above and obliterated an entire mountain range in the distance. The heavenly soldiers surged forward afterward in coordinated formations while dragons roared back against them.
Then suddenly, everything froze.
The battlefield, the flames, the falling debris.
Even the dragons stopped moving midair.
Time itself seemed suspended.
Bruce immediately looked toward Arthur.
"You stopped the memory."
Arthur's gaze remained fixed on something far above the clouds.
"I did."
/-\
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