When the feathered King of Hell finally called me, I said a brief but friendly goodbye to Carmilla, then soared into the crimson sky of Hell and took his call. It's worth noting that I was in my demonic form the entire time, simply because an archangel casually having lunch with one of the most powerful overlords… well, the poor sinners just wouldn't be ready for that kind of shit. So I decided not to traumatize their already fragile psyches any more than necessary.
Lucifer, as usual, started with some pleasantries, and for fifteen minutes, he slowly but surely ate away at my brain with a teaspoon. I, like any well-mannered, intelligent angel, just calmly maintained the conversation, which mostly concerned some internal, political affairs of Hell that, to be honest, I couldn't give a rat's ass about. No, if a "friend" is complaining about his problems, why not listen and offer support? I don't mind, in principle, but that's not why he called me to Hell, was it? If he wanted to talk, we had already planned to go to a bar this week. He could have just moved our meeting if something urgent had come up.
However, I only learned the true reason for his concern at the end of our conversation, when the fallen Seraphim started picking out an outfit to wear. It turns out, a trial was happening right now, after which there was supposed to be a large assembly where all the Sins, along with the aristocracy of the Goetia family, were to resolve some of Hell's pressing issues. And Lucifer, who hadn't attended any of these events for a fuck-ton of years, decided that he should make his entrance with maximum pomp, and also remind everyone that he, though fallen, was still an angel, and was Heaven's representative in Hell, not some depressive idiot. And he decided to do this because he had recently heard from a very famous family (the Von Eldritch's) that Satan had been getting a little too big for his britches lately. And even though his relationships with the other Sins were quite warm, he still wanted to remind everyone WHO exactly had won that long-ago war. So that's why I was summoned here, as a representative of Heaven who had led the army that crushed the legions of the Sins many years ago, to show them visually: "Heaven is still on my side, don't even think about messing with me."
A pretty good idea, to be honest, but I wasn't particularly interested in such political matters. Although I did see some benefit for myself in it: increasing Heaven's influence over Hell, maintaining friendly relations with Lucifer, the sole ruler of Hell, a thorough check of the entire higher, aristocratic society of Hell (the 72 strongest demons of the Goetia families) for any possible ties to Eve, and, at the same time, one small request to the Sins. The very one that was related to the possible backstory of my demonic persona.
During all this time, I had barely spoken to either Octavia or Loona. Simply because I didn't know what to talk to them about. I wasn't sure if they remembered anything from what happened that evening. I didn't want to tell them everything as it was, and to lie… why the hell would I lie to them? After I ate the Fruit of Knowledge, my value system seemed to have become monolithic and consistent—I had a clear structure of what I wanted and what I didn't, what I was willing to do, and what I would never tolerate. Lying, of course, was permissible, but only for the greater good. However, there was no good whatsoever in lying to these two girls, and I was simply disgusted even thinking about it, especially when I remembered who they thought I was, and how they saw themselves next to me. In short, I just didn't want to bring up the subject again because I didn't quite understand how to explain it all to them without leaving them with some deep psychological trauma or resentment. They were good girls, and they certainly didn't deserve that. And I wasn't such a bastard as to deliberately harm them.
Actually, it's worth noting that the Forbidden Fruit had a very positive effect on the stability of my psyche and my entire value system. At the same time, it somehow strangely brought it closer to… to the value system of Sera herself, and, I take it, the other Seraphim… A surprising metamorphosis, but I really started to think exactly as they did: killing is terrible, BUT… if it's necessary to protect Heaven, then I'm willing to step over my own principles. Before, it was out of a sense of duty, but now it has become an integral part of me.
In light of this, I could only assume that the Forbidden Fruit was indeed intended as an element that was supposed to "come into play" only when humanity itself was fully formed. If you give this Fruit to a person who is lost on the path of their destiny, a broken person, it will only harm them, pushing them to a complete breakdown and moral burnout, with a subsequent fixation on the very evil that they saw thanks to the Fruit. A path similar to that of me-the-God-Slayer, in short. A normal, mentally healthy person, after this Fruit, will only become better, which, in principle, I proved with my own transformation. Why the hell God even put Darkness in it was completely incomprehensible. To maintain "free will"? Lucifer told me something about that. Apparently, "free will," according to God himself, was called "the greatest gift and the greatest curse." And Sarakael also said something similar…
Alright, to hell with all that. After sending Lucifer far, far away (into his huge closet, to choose which of his hats he should wear to the Court), I headed straight to the venue for their infernal gatherings, which were the local equivalent of our Heavenly Council, and Heavenly Court. I wouldn't meddle in their squabbles myself. I'd just hang in the air for a bit, browse the internet, and wait for that duck-lover, and then we'd fly into their madhouse together.
Teleportation was a convenient enough ability, but it didn't resonate with me at all. But flight… From the very moment I first discovered the heavens for myself, being in the air has never become less pleasant for me, so I flew as usual through the crimson sky of Hell, looking with interest at the two distant, glowing spheres that hung in the sky: Heaven and Earth, which, I hoped, would soon, finally, be completely closed to all low-ranking demons. Lucifer would be choosing his hat for another twenty minutes anyway, so I could afford to admire the surrounding landscape for a bit. Pentagram City, spread out beneath me, at that very moment seemed even somehow extraordinarily beautiful. After all, from such a height, all its filth was not visible. Nor were the numerous corpses with bloody puddles beneath them, or the latest junkies robbing other, less fortunate sinners.
I think Lilith and Lucifer also saw this city this way when they were just creating it. It's just a shame that they were never able to clean out all the filth that was inside it… Well, let's hope that now the King of Hell will finally pay attention to his subjects, because the sinners were his responsibility, and while he could still somehow shift the problems with the demons onto Satan, the sinners were under his complete, undivided authority (no sane angel would even think of letting DEMONS rule over human SOULS, so, except for Lucifer himself, the sinners owed nothing to anyone; contracts of the overlords with the Goetia were an exception, that's how it was).
Hmm, and there will be demons from the Goetia family at this trial, won't there? How could I get them all out of the way, so I could calmly discuss my "adoption" by the Sins alone? Damn, that sounds even funnier than I thought… A wide, cunning smile involuntarily appeared on my face.
The flight, in fact, took me no more than ten minutes. I could reach near-light speed, literally, by simply turning into a beam of pure light. This was a basic skill that the old Adam had mastered perfectly, though he lacked the reaction time for it, but that was another matter. Even just flying on my wings, I could accelerate to several Machs, completely ignoring friction and other nonsense from physics textbooks. Magic works wonders. It was magic, after all, that gave birth to this world, along with all its laws.
The courthouse was a huge, gloomy cave, which, in principle, did not stand out from the rest, except for the huge, massive gates made of some infernal wood, bound with iron. Strange, I thought it would be another pompous castle, not a cave… Although, yes, Satan could have chosen the place… I slipped between the heavy doors and looked around: a long, dimly lit corridor, furnished with quite beautiful, though slightly gaudy, interior: a soft, red carpet, some strange torch-lamps (definitely magical), some canvases with symbols I didn't understand. Whether they were the symbols of the Sins themselves, or just symbols of the Goetia family… Although, the difference between them was small, because all the Deadly Sins, except for the fallen Seraphim, were already part of the Goetia.
It would probably be right to explain the structure of the Goetia and more fully reveal their true nature. By analogy with Heaven, here in Hell, there was also its own division into races, not species, but races: sinners, demons, and infernal spirits. Demons and infernal spirits were often equated with each other, but in reality, there was a huge, fundamental difference between them.
Demons were precisely those creatures that had been directly exposed to the Darkness in the past and had changed greatly under its influence. We are talking, of course, about the Deadly Sins and the aristocracy of the Goetia family. Once they were ordinary animals living in Eden, but they changed greatly due to the influence of the Darkness. There were also wild demons here, usually non-sentient or semi-sentient creatures, quite strong, but at the same time posing almost no danger to the same infernal aristocrats, with rare exceptions. They had no analogue in Heaven. Unless, the Seraphim themselves could be loosely placed in this category.
After the demons came the infernal spirits. They were also often called "lesser demons." Previously, this division was clear, but now the only thing separating true demons from spirits was a small note: Greater or Lesser. This number included all the offspring of the greater demons: imps, succubi, hellhounds, and other, less significant, riff-raff. Traditionally, they were all subordinate to the greater demons, but at the same time, almost all of them had never even seen the one to whom they belonged. The division here was by legions, into which they were enrolled from birth. This was done for a more rapid response to wars and other possible bullshit. In Heaven, the analogue of the "lesser" were the cherubs and other creatures generated by the Seraphim themselves.
And the last in this hierarchy were the sinners, about whom I have already thought a lot. Their analogue in Heaven were the angels, or "winners." This was the general division into races. However, they, and within these races, also had their own, complex hierarchy. Even the sinners, although, it would seem…
The most important was the division of the greater demons: at the moment, in the Goetia, there were seven kings (or queens), seven princes, twenty-two dukes, fifteen marquises, twelve earls, and nine presidents. Dozens, if not hundreds, of legions of infernal spirits were subordinate to each of them. The kings included all six Deadly Sins and Paimon, but the thing was that the Sins themselves were a separate, higher caste, and were simultaneously both inside this hierarchy and outside it. Paimon, thanks to this, was not just one of the kings of the Goetia, but their only real, official representative and ruler; he was directly subordinate to Lucifer himself. Although, according to the hierarchy, he should have been below the Sins.
Lucifer, however, held the title not of king, in the usual sense, but of "Supreme Ruler of the Underworld." "King of Hell" had a more traditional and historical context, because before, before the Heresy of Samael, the only king here was Lucifer, and only after the victory did he distribute all these titles to the other Sins. As far as I understand, in this way he was simply trying to appease them, but everything related to these political shenanigans of Hell was a dark forest for me. I could only make some of my own assumptions, and that was it.
In general, I even had thoughts of seriously trying to figure out all this crap, because all the Sins I knew, in the end, turned out not to be such bastards as I had imagined them from my memories of them during that War. The same Beelzebub (may she get the hiccups for stealing my nickname!) was a pretty nice girl. And Paimon, although he wasn't a Sin, was also a local big boss, and instead of another villain-idiot, the kind you often see in cartoons, I met a very reasonable man who didn't evoke any disgust or dislike in me at all…
In short, I was really interested in learning more about them. After all, if the sinners were freaks by definition, then the demons, judging by what I saw, were no different from ordinary people. Except for their powers, of course. No, I was definitely not going to enroll in some school for infernal aristocrats, I have better things to do. Charlie graduated from there, and she's still the same naive fool she always was (no negativity, you ball of positivity, okay?), so you could draw conclusions about the level of local education quite easily (especially when you remember all her actions in the canon…), but asking her about the interesting things here would be nice. Why not?
At that very moment, I felt a slight, barely perceptible vibration on my chest, where my "Eye of Adam" was, only at first I was a little lost, because it was a sign of the presence of Eve's powers within its range of action. Sarakael had recently upgraded it, and now I could even add exceptions to it, so that the amulet wouldn't get triggered by the same contractor two hundred times. So Asmodeus could be ruled out immediately, I had added him to the exceptions almost right away. Then… no way, have I finally found some kind of lead?! A wide, predatory smile appeared on my face against my will. So much time, tens of thousands of suspects—and nothing! And now, finally, a lead! How long I have been looking for it! Damn, what if it's another Deadly Sin? God forbid, Satan himself? That bull, by his raw power, was only slightly inferior to the Seraphim, and what if he was also pumped up with Eve's Darkness?
I immediately filled the entire hall with my pressure, so that the enemy couldn't react too quickly and launch a surprise first attack, after which I teleported directly into the middle of this very hall and looked at the Deadly Sins. Clean… Lucky. Then it's someone from the Goetia? At that very moment, I looked down and noticed… three figures, in robes. They contained a barely noticeable drop of Light and a whole, fucking, bucket of Darkness. A familiar Darkness. Eve! Yes! I finally found her! It wasn't a mistake! And these, it seems, were quite important toys of hers, since they were present at the Infernal Court…
"I will find you… And I will kill you…" I say, feeling the thrill and satisfaction, before starting to act…