I took the being's hand, unsure why. Doubt clouded my thoughts, but something deeper — something instinctive — told me he was meant to be in my path.
"Who are you? Why am I here? What is this place?" I asked. My voice didn't shake, but I felt confusion stirring under my ribs, like a living thing.
The being smiled. Too wide. Too pleased. I had never seen such joy in Heaven, certainly not one shaped like wickedness. It felt unnatural, yet familiar — as if the expression itself belonged here more than in Paradise. Maybe God was right about me. Maybe I am His greatest failure.
"I have neither a name nor a legacy such as yours, Lightbringer," he said.
"But you may address me as Corruption."
Corruption.
The word sank into me, strange and heavy.
"I've never heard that name," I murmured, though something in me twisted — like I should have.
He laughed and drifted across the blood–colored surface beneath us. Crimson moonlight burned against his silhouette as he looked upward and pointed into the endless void.
"What do you see, Sammadil?"
At first I saw nothing at all. Just emptiness — silent, endless. But as I stared, it shifted. A weak pulse of light flickered in the dark. Pale. Unsteady. It reminded me of something I wanted to forget.
Heaven.
My expression hardened. Heat rose in my chest.
"Heaven's light?"
Our gazes met. His smile thinned into something darker.
"This place is Heaven's shadow," he said softly.
"That light created me. You do not remember who I am?"
No meaning settled. His words slipped from my understanding. My confusion showed; I couldn't hide it.
Corruption sighed.
"Then I will make you remember."
His smirk returned — colder now. He clapped his hands.
The world broke apart.
–––
Eden.
I knew it instantly — the endless river, the hush in the air, God's breath on the leaves. My past self stood at the water's edge, staring at his reflection. I had always been the only one allowed near that river.
Seeing him — the angel I had been — hurt more than any wound. He looked so certain, so devoted. A creature built of praise and purpose.
My chest tightened painfully.
I pressed a hand over my heart and tried to breathe.
"Quite a scene, isn't it?" Corruption whispered behind me.
"The moment God's garden became the garden of evil."
He watched with delight. Ridiculous, delighted awe.
I kept staring at my own reflection.
"The moment the most adored archangel let pride enter his heart," I said quietly.
"When ambition twisted into disobedience. When love turned to betrayal."
My voice thinned.
"When God's first wonder became His first failure."
Corruption's grin sharpened, anger flickering beneath it. He stepped forward and pointed toward my former self — elegant, radiant, blind.
"So that is what you believe? That speaking truth was evil? That feeling abandoned was sin?" His voice sharpened.
"You still think God is just?"
I didn't look away this time.
I walked toward my reflection — the angel I used to be — and drove my fist through his chest.
Light shattered across the river.
Warm fragments spilled into my hand: the heart I once held inside me. Pure, bright, untarnished.
Slowly, I crushed it.
Pieces dissolved between my fingers.
I turned toward Corruption.
"I will tear God's heart out," I said.
"And I will curse Heaven as they cursed me. No one — not even who I was — will stop me again."
For a moment, Corruption looked stunned. Then his expression shifted into something like pride.
"You truly are something, Sammadil."
"I am not Sammadil anymore."
I straightened.
"You will call me Satan — Heaven's fault, not its failure."
Then, quieter:
"Can you give me the power to rival God?"
Corruption smiled in return.
"Yes," he said.
"But I want you at my side. As my ally. And I need a favor."
His tone was easy, almost casual.
"We are already allies," I answered. "What do you want?"
The illusion dissolved around us.
We stood again on the crimson moon. Corruption pointed to a distant blue sphere suspended in the void.
"That," he said, "is God's greatest flaw. His weakness."
Earth.
"There you will meet the first of many allies. Lilith — Adam's wife, God's second human. You must corrupt her."
"Why her?" I asked. "Why not Adam?"
At the question, the blue planet darkened — swallowed by black.
"Because she will give birth to me."
He extended a hand.
"So. Do we have a deal?"
I laughed softly.
"we do ."
I took his hand.
Earth turned black.
The crimson moon glowed.
–––
In the center of Hell, the horizon tore open. A vast hole split the red sky, and dark fire raged outward. Clouds poured blood and shadows, soaking the ground.
From the wound in the sky, a bleeding moon descended — trembling, alive.
Hell's creatures wailed in terror. They shook beneath the sky, convinced this was God's punishment — the end of all things.
But they were wrong.
It was a beginning.
Cracks spread through the moon like veins of fire.
The crowd gathered, trembling, staring upward in fear. Only the wounded girl smiled — a quiet, secret smile — as if she knew what waited inside.
The moon shattered.
Wings appeared first — torn, massive, hiding a shape within.
And then he rose.
Lucifer.
King of Hell.
The weight of his presence brought the crowd to its knees.
All but one.
The girl stood proudly, eyes shining, and waved at him — a gentle, familiar greeting.
Hell trembled.
A reign had begun.