The void trembled and Arthur's eyes still blazing with violet defiance, remained fixed on the source of the voice that had shattered the Empty Hand's grip. He could feel the power radiating from the hidden figure, burning with the heat of destruction. It pressed against his senses, it was both familiar and yet utterly alien.
The shadows parted, and the Dragon Monarch stepped into the light.
He floated in the air with an almost casual grace, his hands clasped behind his back, his posture radiating the confidence, his draconic armor gleamed with the light of embers that refused to die around him. Each scale caught the light and threw it back in reflections of crimson and gold. His short red hair appeared as if it was on fire, its edges glowing with the same inner light that burned behind his eyes, piercing, serpentine, with dark slits, they were fixed on Arthur.
The Dragon Monarch's smile was thin. "Shadow Monarch..." He tilted his head, his eyes mocking. "The great king of the dead, reduced to a broken mess on a dead planet in a godforsaken universe, choking on the fist of a cosmic entity." He paused, his smile widening.
Arthur's jaw tightened, his body still aching, his power still flickering. The Empty Hand's grip had left marks on him, his armor was in ruins, and his blood still pooled beneath him. But his eyes never left the Dragon Monarch's face.
"You have some nerve, showing up here. after threatening my world, my family, my existence."
The Dragon Monarch's laugh was warm, almost affectionate. "I had to get your attention somehow, Arthur. You're a difficult man to reach. You hide behind many things.. A man has to be creative to catch your eye."
The Empty Hand's eyes widened with surprise, not fear. "I see..." It paused, "You are that dragon. Your power has greatly increased... You have grown... formidable."
The Dragon Monarch's laugh was low, he was utterly confident in his superiority. "Were you keeping tabs on me?" He placed a hand on his chest in mock offense. "My, I'm flattered. I didn't realize I was so important to you. But I suppose I should be grateful. A being of your... stature... taking an interest in little old me?" His smile sharpened. "I'm attracting unnecessary attention, it seems. I must be more famous than I thought."
The Empty Hand's darkness around it seemed to deepen, "You and the Shadow are disrupting the multiverse itself. There should not be many fragments of the Great Darkness like this. Your existence is an aberration, a cosmic anomaly that threatens the order of all things. Your death is a must." It paused. "And so is the Shadow's."
Arthur finally spoke, his voice ragged but steady, "What are you doing here?"
The Dragon Monarch's smile widened. "Saving you."
Arthur's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You of all people saving me? This is a great chance to get rid of me."
The Dragon Monarch's laugh was genuine, "You must be confusing me with Antares, my predecessor. The memories of Ashborn are messing with your judgment, clouding your perception." He paused, his eyes meeting Arthur's with an intensity that bordered on predatory. "I do not wish for us to battle, Arthur. I wish for us to join forces."
He gestured at the Empty Hand.
"As you can see before you, the cosmos is filled with bastards like this one. Plenty of others who would threaten our existence will eventually target us, will seek to erase us from the tapestry of reality." His eyes glowed red. "We must destroy them all before they get the chance to." He paused, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Don't you agree?"
Arthur's voice carried a note of sharp suspicion, his eyes narrowing. "Your motives are not clear to me. First, you send a message for me through Lady Death herself, threatening me and my world. And now you say you are not an enemy?" He paused, his voice hardening. "You'll forgive me if I don't take your word at face value."
The Dragon Monarch expression didn't change. "I had to grab your attention." He paused, "But you did good getting rid of the other pests. I had no use for them. They were weak, pathetic, unworthy of the power they wielded. You did the multiverse a favor by erasing them, of course the Gentry too, another bunch of pests."
The Empty Hand watched their exchange in silence. "Your arrogance knows no bounds." It paused. "You truly think that even if you join forces, you can stand atop everyone else? You are fragments.. broken pieces of a shattered whole. You are nothing. You will always be nothing." Its voice dropped to a whisper. "How foolish."
The Dragon Monarch's eyes swept across the broken planet. "You wish to unleash the Great Darkness?" He paused, his eyes meeting the Empty Hand's with an intensity and contempt. "I call that foolish. And a bit too soon for my taste. The Great Darkness is not something to be unleashed lightly. It is not a weapon, it is an apocalypse. an end, a finale." His voice hardened. "I can't allow you to do that. Just as much as I can't allow you to kill this idiot."
The Empty Hand's presence was pressing against the Dragon Monarch like a physical force."Then I will write your ending this very moment as well."
The Dragon Monarch's smile widened, his eyes blazing with fire. "I'd like to see you try."
He unleashed a powerful breath of destruction toward the Empty Hand a torrent of flame that was not flame, the attack was beautiful and terrible, a wave of annihilation that seemed to consume the very fabric of reality around it.
Arthur shielded himself, even though the blast was a bit away from him. The force of the attack pressed against his senses, its heat searing through the darkness. He could feel the raw energy of the assault.
The blast connected with the Empty Hand and struck it head-on, destroying part of its dark body. The Empty Hand's eyes widened with genuine surprise, its form slowly regenerating, but very poorly, the wound was deep, profound, a crack in the armor of its existence.
The Dragon Monarch's laugh was a roar of triumph. "How does that taste?!" He paused, his eyes blazing. "Right Hand of the Great Darkness. I don't recognize that title." His voice dropped to a whisper. "You are just another being that can be destroyed."
The Dragon Monarch attacked.
The battle that followed was a storm of destruction, a clash of primordial forces. The Dragon Monarch moved like a predator, his fists wrapped in flames, his blows landing with the force of a planet. The Empty Hand met him blow for blow.
Each impact sent shockwaves across space. The ground beneath them cracked, the sky above them tore, the very concept of existence seemed to groan under their conflict. The battle laid waste to everything in its path, reducing the already broken world to rubble. Mountains crumbled. The crust of the planet itself began to fracture, its surface cracking like an eggshell under the pressure of their assault.
Arthur watched from the shadows, his eyes narrowed. He could feel the Dragon Monarch's power, and his voice was barely a whisper as he said in realization. "He is clearly stronger than me." He paused, his eyes narrowing. "And he has yet to use any of the power of his concept. Otherwise, he would have destroyed the planet itself."
He made a decision. "If it means surviving this great threat," he said to himself. "I will ally myself with him. Just this once."
His voice echoed in the Dragon Monarch's mind.
"The Empty Hand is not just strong." He paused. "Even though his power is too great, he is not fully whole. He is a fragment, just like us. A piece of something larger that has been broken and scattered across the multiverse. We can defeat him together, but that will not be the end of it.. He will return eventually."
He paused, his eyes meeting the Dragon Monarch's across the battlefield.
"The planet needs to be destroyed. The machine that will unleash the Great Darkness is the planet itself. It is the anchor, the catalyst, the key. Without it, the Empty Hand's plan cannot proceed."
The Dragon Monarch's voice echoed in Arthur's mind, carrying a note of sharp irritation. "Don't startle me like this!" A pause. "I have noticed that." His voice hardened. "You destroy the planet. I will deal with him myself." A pause. "Don't bother me!"
"Rude bastard." Arthur said.
He looked away, his eyes finding the horizon.
"Korin..."
Arthur disappeared in a gust of shadows, his presence fading from the battlefield.
The Dragon Monarch's laugh echoed across the void.
"Now, then..." His eyes blazed with fire as he looked at the Empty Hand. "Where were we?"
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