The battlefield split into two worlds.
Below, shadows clashed against white monsters. Igris led the charge, his greatsword carving through a white Valgang Dragon as if it were made of paper. Diana spun through a pack of white Venom Scorpions, her scimitar claiming limbs with every revolution. Adonis fought silently, his fists and feet shattering white chitin. Baal's eye beam swept across the field, erasing dozens of white creatures in a single pass.
But for every monster that fell, another rose. Reginas's army was endless, pulled from the same corrupted magic that had birthed her. The shadows fought desperately, but they could not gain ground.
Above, Damien and the others faced Reginas herself.
She stood at the center of the chaos, her third eye pulsing with amusement, her snake-like tail swaying lazily behind her. Her white skin gleamed under the dungeon's dim light, and her long blonde hair floated as if moved by an unfelt wind.
Damien studied her. The way she moved. The way she fought. The way she laughed.
'She is too relaxed,' he thought. 'She is toying with us'
He could use that.
"Everyone," Damien said quietly. "She is toying with us. She will make mistakes. We need to be ready when she does."
Finn nodded, his broken wrist already wrapped. Ottar said nothing, his massive frame already moving. Leon wiped blood from his lip. Mia Grande tightened her grip on her cleaver. Ais's golden eyes burned. Tiona and Tione stood back to back. Riveria's wand glowed with gathered power. Hedin and the Gulliver Brothers formed a second line.
They attacked as one.
...
Reginas met them with a smile.
Ottar struck first, his blade aimed at her heart. She caught it with two fingers, twisted, and snapped his right arm like a twig. The crack echoed across the battlefield. Ottar did not scream—he simply staggered back, his arm hanging uselessly at his side.
"Strong and silent," Reginas cooed. "How boring."
Leon came next, his sword driving toward her throat. She ducked under it, her tail wrapping around his ankle. She pulled. He stumbled. Her fingers found his face.
"I wonder," she said, "if you can still fight without these."
Her nails dug into his eyes.
Leon screamed.
She released him, and he fell to the ground, clutching his face, blood streaming between his fingers.
Healers already trying their best to help him from afar
Mia Grande roared, her cleaver descending in a killing arc. Reginas did not dodge. She took the blow the blade sank into her shoulder, deep enough to kill any normal creature. She grinned.
"Good one, Mama Mia."
Her hand shot out, fingers closing around Mia's throat. She squeezed.
Damien moved.
He kicked Mia out of the way, sending her sliding across the ground, gasping for air. Reginas's hand closed on empty space.
She looked at Damien and pouted. "Love! Why are you being a Spoilsport."
"Gareth!"
The dwarf understood immediately. He planted himself in front of Finn, his massive axe sweeping in wide arcs, keeping Reginas's attention. His body was a wall of muscle and steel, absorbing every strike she sent his way.
Finn closed his eyes.
He reached deep inside himself...deeper than he had ever reached before. Every level. Every stat point. Every ounce of power he had accumulated over a lifetime of fighting. He gathered it all, focusing it into a single point.
His spear.
When he opened his eyes, they had turned dark crimson.
"NOW, GARETH!"
Gareth threw himself aside.
Finn threw his spear.
Tir na Nog.
The magic exploded from the weapon, a beam of pure destruction that dwarfed anything the expedition had seen. The shockwave alone blasted monsters away...white creatures and shadows alike, scattered like leaves before a hurricane. The ground cracked beneath Finn's feet. The air itself screamed.
The spear struck Reginas.
She did not dodge. Did not block. Did not even try.
The impact obliterated her. Head. Torso. Limbs. Tail. Everything. There was nothing left...not a single cell, not a single drop of blood, not a single trace that she had ever existed.
The spear continued behind her, blasting into the walls of Floor Sixty. Stone cracked. The dungeon groaned. A massive fissure spread across the floor's foundation, visible from one end to the other.
Finn fell to his knees, gasping, drained.
For a moment, there was silence.
Then Reginas laughed.
The magic that had scattered across the battlefield began to move. Particles of light—purple, white, gold—drifted toward the spot where she had stood. They gathered. They coalesced. They formed.
Reginas reappeared, whole and unharmed, as if she had never been touched.
She clapped her hands together.
"Oh, Finn," she said, her voice dripping with delight. "You really used Tir na Nog! Just like I said you would! you're such a dear!"
Finn's face went pale....
Damien watched.
He watched Reginas reform. He watched her laugh. He watched her toy with them, break them, mock them. He watched the way her magic worked—not just healing, not just regeneration, but something else. Something deeper.
Reginas dodged another massive attack from Hedin, laughing it off as his blade passed harmlessly through empty air. Ais came face to face with her next, Desperate cutting through Reginas's body, carving away chunks of white flesh. But the smile never left Reginas's face. She used her tail to send Ais flying across the battlefield.
Riveria's ice magic shattered before it could even reach her.
Nothing worked.
Reginas spread her arms wide, her third eye pulsing with triumphant light.
"Do you fools not get it?" Her voice echoed across Floor Sixty, carrying a weight that pressed down on everyone who heard it. "There is no winning a battle here. You are all here to entertain me." She smiled. "As this place's eternal Monarch, I have become a God."
Silence.
Then a laugh.
Deep. Genuine. Truly entertained.
Damien laughed.
Reginas's smile faltered. Her third eye narrowed.
"What do you find so entertaining, my love?" she asked, her voice losing its playful edge. She did not like being mocked. She did not like being the one who did not understand.
Damien's laugh faded into a grin.
"You," he said. "I find you entertaining." He stepped forward, his daggers spinning in his hands. "And the words you chose... a Monarch, you say?" His eyes locked onto hers. "Well, I happen to be in the business of killing Monarchs." He paused. "As a Monarch myself."
Reginas's expression shifted. For the first time, something flickered behind her eyes. Uncertainty.
Damien crossed his daggers together.
Power gathered. Below, his shadows began to disappear—one by one, then dozens, then hundreds. Igris faded. Diana faded. Adonis. Baal. Every shadow on the battlefield dissolved into dark energy, flowing upward, converging on Damien's crossed blades.
It was similar to Shadow Slash. The same gathering of souls. The same compression of power.
But this was different.
The blades Hephaestus had forged for him were evolving. They had always evolved with their owner, growing stronger, sharper, more attuned to his power. And now, with the Black Heart beating within his chest, Damien had evolved beyond his natural means.
He smiled.
Then he stabbed himself.
Both daggers drove into his heart.
For a moment, nothing happened. Reginas stared, confused. The others stared, horrified.
Then the shadow energy exploded outward.
It wrapped around Damien like a second skin—dark, living, pulsing with power. It formed armor. Not the crude protection of a soldier, but something regal. Something ancient. A crown of shadow materialized above his head. A cape of pure darkness flowed from his shoulders. His eyes turned black, depthless, endless.
Damien stood in his newest form.
His Shadow Monarch form.
/*\
If you Like this story! Check out my other story ! Sukuna in DC!
AND
If you wish to read more or simply support me just because ? than check out my patréon at
"https://www.patréon.com/Riadooo"
You can Get Access to 3 More Chapters OR 7 More Chapters if you want !