Shadow Monarch in DC-Chapter 125: The Altar Beckons

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Arthur lunged, his cloak whipping back as the air behind him imploded. The Promethium blade in his hand cut through the air in a blur, striking downward with crushing force. The Flash twisted, his body bending at an unnatural angle as he zipped to the side lightning trailing behind him.

But Arthur didn't stop. He moved in a blur [Speed Step] activated.

One step. He was behind the Flash.

Two steps. A slash from the left.

Three. A rising cut aimed at the spine.

Four. A horizontal sweep meant to cleave through the chest.

But each time, the Flash dodged effortlessly, mockingly fast. His corrupted form shimmered in bursts of red and yellow electricity. Sparks flew as the tip of Arthur's blade carved into air, inches from flesh, then nothing.

Then A fist slammed into Arthur's ribs. Another clipped his jaw. A final blow to the shoulder sent him skidding back, boots grinding into the pavement.

He snarled, spitting blood, wiping his chin.

"Tch..."

The Flash tilted his head, still jittering with energy. His voice came out cracked and layered

"You're Nothing shadow king. not fast enough."

Arthur's eyes glowed brighter, flaring cold blue.

'I wish I still had that device Lex made...' he thought, as he flexed his fingers. 'Though I doubt it would work on this Flash. Not like this...'

A low hum came from beneath him, shadows stirring.

Arthur stepped forward and the shadows exploded upward.

Ten Shadow Demon Knights surged from the darkness like hunters from the abyss. Their armored forms gleamed with magic, each brandishing a weapon forged of darkness, their eyes glowing faintly violet.

With a sweeping motion of his arm, Arthur called out

"Attack."

They descended like a pack of wolves, swarming the Flash in coordinated precision. The speedster danced between them, flickering in and out of reach, leaving torn metal and shattered pavement in his wake but even he couldn't ignore numbers forever.

That's when Galatea dropped from the sky.

Her landing was a comet cracking the ground as she drove a punch toward the Flash, who dodged by an inch only to be met by a swing from a shadow knight. He ducked again then Quick burst in, red-black lightning clashing with the Flash's corrupted energy.

For a moment, it was chaos.

Flashes of steel. Fists. Lightning. Explosions.

Arthur stood at the center of it all, calm, composed, watching every move waiting for an opening to finish it fast.

He narrowed his eyes as he studied the speedster's flow.

Too wide on that turn. Too slow in the pivot. Holding back just slightly like someone who didn't fully understand the speed they'd inherited.

'This might be The Flash...' Arthur thought, shifting his grip on the sword, 'but he's sloppy. Clearly not tapping into the speed force or anything.. This vermin of Trigon isn't using his powers wisely.'

Then he stepped forward, blending into his shadow and vanished.

He emerged behind the Flash mid-strike, sword raised in silence.

"I never said I'm doing this alone."

He brought his blade down just as Galatea and Quick struck in unison from opposite angles, shadow knights lunging to pin the Flash's escape routes.

The possessed speedster's eyes widened just for a moment.

Arthur smiled.

Their eyes met.

And for a single instant, everything froze.

The corrupted Flash still crackling with demonic lightning hesitated. Just for a heartbeat.

Arthur's expression shifted. The cold edge of calculation was gone, replaced by something primal.

His glowing blue eyes widened, not with surprise but with intent.

[Bloodlust] activated.

The air trembled.

The Flash staggered, the very air suddenly felt like it was too heavy to bear. His feet refused to move. His lungs caught fire. Every nerve in his stolen body screamed one thing

Danger.

He was fast, the fastest but in that moment, he couldn't move at all.

"It's over now."

Arthur vanished then reappeared again in the blink of an eye, unleashing [Sword Rush].

A flurry of cuts tore through the air blades moving faster than mortal eyes could follow, dancing in a rhythm known only to the wielder.

The possessed Flash twisted, arms raised to block, lightning lashing out but it wasn't enough.

A final stab drove the Promethium blade clean through his leg, piercing flesh and armor, slamming into the ground below. freēnovelkiss.com

"AGHHHHH!"

The Flash let out a howling shriek inhuman, layered with a second demonic voice screaming in tandem.

His body convulsed, the red lightning sputtering, four glowing red eyes flashing open.

He reached to rip the blade free but before he could

BOOM.

Galatea hit him like a meteor, grabbing him by the throat, pinning him to the broken pavement. Her boots cracked the earth beneath as she drove him down, eyes blazing with red-hot fury.

"Stay. Down." she growled, her voice low, teeth clenched. Her heat vision flared to life, two glowing beams humming with deadly force.

The red light lit up the Flash's trembling face he snarled, thrashing, possessed voice spitting venom.

Arthur raised a hand, stepping forward calmly.

"Whoa there.."

Galatea blinked, still burning, but paused waiting.

"We're not here to kill him," Arthur said, his tone calm but firm. "At least... not yet."

He knelt beside the pinned speedster. The injector gun materialized in his hand in a swirl of shadows, hissing faintly. Arthur looked down at the writhing, broken form of the possessed Flash, the sword still stuck in his leg, blood sizzling on the ground.

"He's already in a bad shape," he muttered. "No need to make him worse."

With a casual motion, Arthur pressed the injector against the side of the Flash's neck and fired. A soft hiss, a flash of pale light, then silence.

"He'll heal."

He paused... then added with a slight shrug

"Perhaps.."

For a breathless second, nothing happened.

Then a ghost-like black smoke slithered out of the Flash's mouth, twisting upward like a serpent in retreat, hissing as it evaporated into the air. The four red eyes snapped shut, vanishing. The red lightning died. The body beneath Galatea's grip went limp.

Flash collapsed.

Arthur rose, hand still outstretched, and with a flick of his fingers Ruler's Authority activated.

The sword ripped free from the Flash's leg on its own, snapping into Arthur's waiting grip, dripping red blood. No sign of pain on his face just cold focus.

He turned away from the unconscious speedster as Galatea stepped back, releasing her grip.

"One down," Arthur said quietly.

"Too many left to go."

He turned, stepping away from the fallen speedster, shadows already rising around his feet, coiling upward like living mist.

"Excha...," he began to say, voice low

"Wait..."

The voice wasn't demonic. It wasn't snarling, twisted, or laced with hatred.

It was human. Broken. Barely audible.

Arthur stopped.

He turned back eyes narrowing.

The Flash no longer possessed was barely conscious, one hand trembling against the shattered street beneath him, blood still pooling around his leg. His chest heaved in slow, ragged breaths, and his face pale and strained tilted upward with effort.

"You're... that Arthur, right?" the speedster rasped. "..."

Arthur blinked.

'He's still conscious?'

He turned, slowly approaching his expression unreadable, sword still at his side.

The Flash coughed, trying to prop himself up, but failed.

Arthur stood over him silently, offering no words. Just waiting.

"While... they were... in my head," Barry wheezed, voice hoarse but desperate, "I was heading somewhere... before that shadow speedster of yours... got in the way..."

He groaned, clutching his side, pain clearly rippling through every word.

"Metropolis," he finally said. "I could... see it through my own eyes... There was an altar... glowing with demonic symbols... Trigon should be..."

His voice cracked. The effort was too much.

Then his eyes rolled back. He collapsed.

Arthur caught him before he hit the ground fully, gently easing him down. He glanced at the wound in the Flash's leg, still mending itself slowly. His expression softened just barely.

"Alright," Arthur murmured. "I understand. No need to push yourself."

He stood up, turned to Galatea who had watched quietly the whole time, hovering nearby like a silent guardian.

"Take him somewhere safe," Arthur commanded. "He'll heal on his own."

Galatea nodded once. No words were needed. She stepped forward, lifted the Flash with precise care, cradling him like fragile glass. Her eyes briefly met Arthur's calm, questioning if anything more needed to be said.

"Go," Arthur added.

With a gust of wind and crackle of air, Galatea soared into the sky, vanishing toward the horizon with a sonic boom.

Arthur remained still, the broken battlefield around him quiet once again. The faint breeze tousled his hair.

He turned his gaze toward the west toward Metropolis.

"Metropolis, huh... Just so it happens I have a shadow there."

A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips, not of joy but grim anticipation.

He flexed his fingers. The shadows at his feet stirred in response.

"Exchange."

The darkness surged upward like a tidal wave swallowing him whole.

In the blink of an eye, Arthur was gone.

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