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SM/DC Chapter 103 : Demon's Whisper
🕑 Added 2025-04-28 21:28:29 +0000 UTCArthur rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the exhaustion sink deeper into his bones now that the adrenaline had long worn off. His body still ached a bit, his mind was weighed down by everything he had just heard and for the first time in a long while, he allowed himself to simply feel tired.
"You know what," he muttered, glancing at Kara, "Tomorrow…"
Kara tilted her head, giving him a curious look.
"I'm spent," Arthur said with a short breath. "Feels like I could just collapse right here."
Kara’s face softened immediately. She smiled brightly, that usual spark of hers returning like a small flame. “Of course, Arthu. Rest up. Now that you’re here, it’ll be a cakewalk for us!” she said, full of that stubborn optimism that somehow made the room feel lighter.
Arthur couldn’t help but let a small, tired smile slip across his lips. Without saying anything else, he turned and made his way to his room.
He dropped onto the bed heavily, kicking off his boots without ceremony. As soon as his head touched the pillow, he felt it that familiar hum of power settling over his body, knitting torn muscles, soothing his battered mind.
[Passive Skill Activated: Longevity]
Arthur chuckled weakly under his breath, closing his eyes.
"Thanks, system," he whispered.
And for the first time in what felt like forever, Arthur allowed himself to drift into a deep, dreamless sleep.
****
Arthur’s eyes snapped open.
He sat up immediately, feeling an unusual lightness in his body. No aches, no stiffness. He rolled his shoulders experimentally everything moved fluidly, perfectly. A grin pulled at his lips. Without thinking, he dropped into a few quick pushups, then a set of squats, finishing with a short, sharp punch into the air. The air cracked around his knuckles like a whip.
He straightened up, feeling the surge of strength through every muscle.
“Nice,” he muttered with satisfaction.
Throwing on a clean shirt, Arthur wandered through the wide halls of his estate, the morning sun filtering through the tall windows. He headed straight for the kitchen, the scent of fresh coffee drawing him in like a magnet.
In the kitchen, George was already waiting for him, standing impeccably straight, a steaming cup of coffee prepared on a silver tray.
“Good morning, Master Arthur,” George said with his usual refined tone, inclining his head respectfully. “I trust you are feeling...rejuvenated?”
Arthur snorted, grabbing the coffee. “George, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were a mind-reader.”
George allowed himself a thin, knowing smile. “I assure you, sir, it is merely a lifetime of well-honed intuition...and perhaps a touch of common sense.. You know, coffee in mornings sir.”
Arthur took the coffee with a small smirk. “What can I do without you.”
Just as he took a sip, he heard light footsteps bounding into the room.
Kara, still in her casual clothes practically crashed into the room, full of boundless energy. She skidded to a halt at the sight of him, grinning from ear to ear.
“Arthur! Morning!” she said, walking over and giving him a light punch on the arm. “Are you all better now?”
Arthur leaned casually against the counter, sipping his coffee with a mock look of deep thought.
“I am,” he said after a pause. Then he raised an eyebrow at her. “You’re basically living here now.”
Kara gasped, hand flying dramatically to her heart.
“What, you getting tired of me already?”
Arthur shrugged nonchalantly. “I didn’t say that…”
They both laughed, the sound echoing warmly in the kitchen. Even George allowed himself a soft, polite chuckle behind his hand.
Kara grinned wider and bumped her shoulder lightly into Arthur’s.
“Careful, I might make it official. Move in, steal your stuff, claim your estate in the name of Zor El.”
Arthur raised his cup, taking a slow sip before replying with a faint smirk.
"Or Blackwynd."
Kara blinked and then her face immediately turned a shade of red that could rival her cape.
"W-what are you talking about?! That’s! I mean..I didn’t mean it like that!" she stammered, waving her hands quickly as if she could somehow erase the moment from existence.
Arthur chuckled lowly, clearly enjoying her flustered state.
George, ever the picture of composed dignity, hid a smile behind his hand as he busied himself preparing another cup of coffee.
Kara huffed, crossing her arms and stubbornly looking away.
“You said it not me!”
Arthur leaned back casually against the counter, amused. "Sure, Kara. Whatever you say."
She refused to meet his eyes, mumbling under her breath.
They were still laughing when it happened.
Arthur’s smile slowly faded, replaced by a frown. A strange sensation prickled at the back of his neck, his senses sharpening instinctively. George paused mid-pour of a second cup. Kara noticed too her body tensed subtly.
“What’s going on?” she asked, her voice dropping into a concerned whisper.
Arthur set the cup down, eyes scanning the room. The walls, no, reality itself started to ripple. Like a stone dropped into a calm pond, only this ripple twisted everything.
A deafening silence fell, the world around them warping. Kara lunged to grab Arthur’s wrist. But her hand passed through empty space as Arthur was ripped away.
It felt like falling, but not through air. More like tumbling through something like being pulled inside out.
When he hit the ground, it was with a force that rattled his bones.
Arthur grunted and pushed himself up, coughing once. He looked around, blinking the disorientation away and immediately wished he hadn’t.
The sky above him was a swirling maelstrom of black and burning red, the air heavy with ash and heat. Jagged, broken landscapes stretched into a horizon painted in fire and shadow. Rivers of molten lava cracked the earth like open wounds.
The air reeked of sulfur, blood, and something old, something vile.
It looked like Hell, at least, the version of Hell Arthur would’ve imagined.
His breath came slow, steady. He got to his feet, his boots crunching against the cracked, blackened ground.
“What the fuck is going on…” Arthur muttered, the words carried away by the howling, unnatural wind.
Arthur walked forward slowly, his boots crunching against the scorched, cracked ground beneath him. Black lightning that spiderwebbed across the heavens.
His instincts screamed danger, but Arthur remained calm.
With a thought, his Demon King Sword materialized in his right hand, the massive blade humming with a dark, cold power.
Blue lightning crackled up its edge, running along the black steel like veins of living electricity.
Arthur's eyes narrowed as he spotted movement ahead.
From the swirling mists, they emerged hunched and monstrous, with leathery, broken wings, skin like cracked obsidian, and four gleaming, malevolent eyes each. Their mouths opened in jagged smiles.
"It's him…"
"It’s him…"
"The King…"
"The Shadow …"
The whispers slithered through the air like knives, scraping against Arthur’s mind. He exhaled slowly, his breath misting in the unnatural heat.
"Is that…" he started to say but before he could finish the thought, the demons lunged all at once, shrieking like animals.
Arthur moved.
In one fluid motion, he vanished from their sight appearing between them in a blink.
The Demon King Sword sang through the air.
Two demons were beheaded in a single, clean arc of his blade, their bodies crumbling to ash before they even hit the ground.
The third demon roared, clawing desperately toward Arthur, but he sidestepped with casual ease his sword stabbing forward like a thunderbolt. The blade impaled the creature through the chest, and with a twist, Arthur sent a jolt of crackling blue energy through its body, reducing it to dust.
The last demon hesitated barely a fraction of a second.
Arthur gave it no chance.
He pivoted, lifted his sword high, and brought it down in a devastating vertical slash that split the demon in half with a sickening crack of lightning.
Silence fell.
Ash and embers floated around him like black snow.
Arthur stood tall, the Demon King Sword resting on his shoulder, blue sparks still flickering along its length. His shadow stretched unnaturally long behind him under the twisted sky.
He glanced down at the remains of his attackers, unfazed.
"I know what this is.." he muttered. "I really can't catch a break..."
