"WHAT?!?" Lute screamed, looking at me as if I had just suggested she voluntarily attend a party in Hell. I understood her perfectly, by the way, but I had been contemplating this step for a long time. After a detailed questioning of Lucifer and carefully testing the waters with Sarakael today, I had finally made my decision.
"I already told you I ate the Fruit of Knowledge, remember?" I waited for her uncertain nod before continuing.
"At that very moment, it seems something happened that interrupted the process of 'knowing Good and Evil.' I started having serious mental problems back then, but it was absolutely not related to the Fruit itself. After all, neither Eve nor that stupid deer-lady experienced such an effect. Moreover, it just didn't make any sense for something that God himself called the 'Fruit of Knowledge of Good and Evil,' you understand?"
"The only thing I understand is that you're about to willingly stick your head in a noose and you're asking me for permission!" Lute retorted sharply, almost on the verge of shouting, her eyes filled with anger and hurt. "Isn't the constant risk you take in Hell enough for you? Playing the role of fucking live bait for Eve? And now you've decided to do this crap too? For what fucking reason, tell me?!"
"This Fruit gives power. Because of that 'error' last time, I received an extremely 'truncated' Darkness, which compressed into a single point. And for all its immense power and concentration, the amount of it within me is simply negligible. At the same time, it doesn't affect my mind at all, but it gives very powerful bonuses that I wouldn't want to just give up…" That wasn't entirely true, and the power itself was far from my primary interest, but I wasn't lying either.
"Bonuses?!" my exorcist flew into a rage. "Shove those bonuses up your ass! I'm against it!"
"Listen, Lute," I gently placed my hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down a bit. "I promise you, nothing bad will come of this. I need this, understand. I just need your support. You know I'm not such an idiot as to experiment on myself so recklessly." Now my palm rested gently on her cheek, and she instinctively pressed against it. "I won't turn into a huge, mindless monster, and I won't go insane. It won't break me or erase my memory. Just, please, be with me right now."
"…" Lute averted her gaze. Yes, I was viciously manipulating the feelings of this poor girl right now, but I didn't want to abandon my idea, and I really did need her support. This was the only chance I could think of for… well, that doesn't matter for now. Nothing has happened yet to draw conclusions… "Do whatever you want…" Lute finally replied, surrendering. "You'll do it your way anyway, you self-absorbed idiot… I'll be by your side…"
"Thank you. I love you," I kiss my beloved gently, then resolutely take a bite of the seemingly ordinary apple…
Emperor of the Void
"Is it even worth mentioning that I have achieved absolutely everything? Power, untold riches, limitless strength… Yes. I am omnipotent. And finally, no one dares to defy me. Not a single pathetic, insignificant creature stands above me. From this day forward, I am the God of this world! Neither the worthless Eve, nor that idiot Lucifer with his pathetic family, mean anything anymore. After taking what is rightfully mine in Heaven, I will take all their pathetic domains as well. Hell will be mine, as will Earth. All of it will belong only to me. And all the pathetic inhabitants of this universe will finally realize my true greatness. I am the emperor of this world! I am God! Yes. I am God, I am the strongest, and no one dares to defy me!"
In the vast throne room, which was once the Seraphim Council Hall, on a throne made of bones, sat an angel… Or rather, what was once an angel. His creators were the very bones from which the throne was made, but they had not died. Within these bones, a crimson sun shone brightly, accumulating all their former power, all their life energy, and the Light they had once carried. The man sitting on the throne stared blankly at a single point and, like a mantra, repeated the same thing over and over. He said that no one was his master. He said that he was at the very pinnacle of this world, that he was the new God. This continued for hours, until his faithful "servants" entered with their latest reports. In these rare moments, the emperor would finally stop repeating the same thing and even liven up a bit, but after his servants left, he would return to his detached state, repeating, and repeating, and repeating the same thing…
The Faded Hero
"The Ruins of Heaven. That was all that was left of my home. The legions of Hell, completely succumbing to the Darkness, invaded my home and killed everyone. Everyone I knew was killed. And I was left all alone. God… It was all his fault! He allowed all of this to happen! How I envy him! All-powerful, omnipotent, he could have brought back all the dead, even created this world anew! He could do anything! And I… I couldn't even protect my own home… But I'm no worse than him! I was created in his image, I want to be omnipotent too! NO! I MUST BE OMNIPOTENT! I should be God, not him, but me! I am worthy! He doesn't deserve his place, doesn't deserve all his power!"
Amidst the ruins of Heaven stood an angel who had lost absolutely everything. He didn't blame his enemies; he blamed his ally. He envied him. Envied his power, his limitless possibilities, and his complete, absolute indifference. As a God, one could lose this world millions of times and create it anew each time. The man standing on the scorched, blood-and-ash-soaked ground desired all of this. And the Darkness that slumbered within his soul immediately activated, filling his empty, tormented soul with new strength.
"Yes… To become a God… one must first destroy what the previous God created…" In an instant, one of this angel's eyes went dark, only to shine with a bright, scarlet light a second later. He who had lost everything had decided to destroy everything that God had once created, in order to take his place…
The Gatekeeper of Hell
"Argh! I spin around and slice another newly-arrived sinner in two. Ha! And another, and another, AND ANOTHER! AND ANOTHER!!! AND ANOTHER!!!! I'LL KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL!"
On the grounds of Hell, completely littered with rotting corpses, stood a creature that embodied pure, unadulterated Wrath. It had long since lost its personality, completely surrendering to this all-consuming rage and endless, bloody slaughter. Every demon, every sinner in Hell had to be killed. This simple axiom had literally become the embodiment of all its goals. The creature, which was once an angel, first started a war that allowed it to completely exterminate all demons on all circles of Hell. After which, the creature began a total purge of sinners. The Fallen Seraphim had tried to intervene but was immediately beheaded. Everyone who stood in this creature's way was killed. Sinners, exorcists, and even the Seraphim themselves, who dared to descend into Hell to reason with their lost child. Everyone in Hell had to be killed. Such was the only thought in the head of this creature, which had long since lost all its feelings, except for one, all-consuming wrath…
The Quiet Place
"It's not my fault that this world is so cruel. Yes, I ran away, but they can handle all of this perfectly well without me. I just don't want to take the risk. And why do they even need me there? I was almost killed by that damn, one-eyed creature! What can I do against Eve herself? Lucifer beat me up. Let him deal with all of it now! I couldn't help them. I can't do anything. I'm not a coward. It's just… they can do it all themselves, without my help."
On a dark, lifeless planet, full of dry, dead trees and storm clouds, wandered a man who had long since lost all meaning in life. He didn't want to fight, didn't want to have fun, he didn't even want to live. The only thing still keeping him in this world was his all-consuming despair, which had not left him for many, many years. Having lost and fled, abandoning all those he once knew to their fate, this man hid himself, shielding himself from the whole world with thoughts that justified all his actions in his own eyes. This had been going on for many years. And if not for his nature, he would have long since died of thirst and hunger, for he had no intention of doing anything… How much longer will this pathetic existence of his last?..
Gaze of the Abyss
"More! I need more Darkness! It's all mine! I won't give it to anyone! Mine!"
The creature that was once an angel had managed to escape from its native universe! He left all his problems in the past and set off to conquer new, unexplored heights, but… beyond his universe, only endless Darkness awaited him. Already losing all hope of salvation and fearing to dissolve completely in it, this creature began to absorb this Darkness into itself. And then he realized that the Darkness gave him strength.
The very moment he understood that consuming the Darkness made him stronger, he immediately ceased all his attempts to escape from this reality. Instead, he began to take all the Darkness that surrounded him for himself. More, and more, and more! Each time he tried to absorb even more Darkness. With every second he tried to take more, and more, and more! So that no one else would get any! So that it would all remain only with him! The creature had long since lost track of time. He simply absorbed the Darkness and thought of nothing else. He didn't know how long this had been going on, nor did he even feel what level of power he had reached. It didn't concern him at all. His only, all-consuming desire was to take more! More! To take it all for himself!
"Huh?" At some point, the Darkness itself noticed this insatiable creature and… decided to consume it in return. In this void, where before there was only silent Darkness, for the first time a desperate cry of terror was heard, as the creature that was once an angel began to slowly, painfully dissolve…
The Insatiable Light
"I should be happy, for I am finally with her… Eve… I supported her, took her side, and accepted the Darkness. And we have finally achieved everything we so long desired… I should be happy…"
The Light had lost. The main defender of Heaven had defected to the side of Darkness, and no one could stop him. The legions of Heaven fell, along with the children of God himself. However, the Light remained and… the former defender of Heaven began not just to kill the inhabitants of Heaven, but to eat them. He ate angels, cherubs, even Seraphim, as if trying in this way to regain the Light that they still had, but which he no longer possessed. The traitor butchered his former allies and devoured them. He consumed their organs, their flesh, even their bones. He was not happy, though he desperately wanted to appear so. All this time he felt only an emptiness inside, felt that he had lost something very important. And when he finally realized that he wanted to regain this Light, he began to eat everything around him: rubble, air, water… This went on for years. And when nothing was left of Heaven itself… he… it… bit into the very fabric of this universe… The eternally hungry, insatiable monster wanted more…
The Rotten Carnival
"That's right, bitch, suck harder! Oh, fuck, this slut has no idea how to make a guy feel good. Oh, you want some too? Don't worry, this daddy has enough for all the bitches in this city!"
An angel moved to Hell… It sounds absurd, of course. Yet Adam did just that. He descended into Hell when he noticed how much fun it was here, compared to the boring, dreary Heaven. He was tired and just wanted to relax a little. However, this wild, fun-loving lifestyle consumed him completely. Every day he fucked a dozen different demonesses. Every day he tried some new, forbidden substance. And every day he drank hundreds of liters of various kinds of alcohol. He didn't care who he slept with, what he smoked, or what he drank. He was letting loose as best he could, completely surrendering to lust and debauchery.
The Seraphim, seeing what had become of their "son," immediately exiled him, taking away any possibility of his return to Heaven, but this fallen angel didn't care at all, because at that very moment he was fucking another cute demoness.
So what was the problem, if he got exactly what he wanted? Oh, everything that surrounded him was just a rotten, deceptive illusion. People came to his parties only because he gave out free drinks and food, and often gave his numerous lovers expensive jewelry and gems. He no longer valued character in them; he only cared about the presence of a couple of holes in his next sexual partner…
"Fuck!" I yelled, shooting up from the bed and starting to breathe heavily, raggedly. Eight extremely detailed… dreams? Memories? No, damn it, I don't even… I don't even know how to put it. "Ha… ha… ha…"
"Adam! Adam, are you okay?!" A worried Lute was looking at me, holding me firmly by the shoulders. It was obvious she was very worried about me. My heart immediately warmed a little, but that sticky, disgusting feeling of horror and revulsion from… myself? It hadn't gone away.
"Yeah… ha… ha…" I answered, feeling my heart pounding wildly. I didn't need air, in principle, but the heavy shortness of breath, like after the worst nightmare, wouldn't let me go. "I'm fine…" I fell back onto the bed, closing my eyes, which immediately welled up with moisture.
"What happened?" Lute continued her interrogation.
"That… fuck, that was the worst fucking nightmare I could have ever imagined…" I answered, still lost in my thoughts… What just happened… I just wasn't expecting it…
"Adam, get a grip!" Lute started shaking me again.
"I'm fine, really, it's just… I'm not sure how to explain all this to you. And… if I even should…"
"You seemed to check out of reality for a few seconds. And in those few seconds, a dozen different emotions crossed your face. And I'm waiting for an explanation!" my valkyrie put her hands on her hips… Alright, who else can I trust, if not her?
During my story, I tried not to describe all the details. Not only because they were extremely unpleasant to me, but also because I just didn't want to remember it all again. All those… dreams? They were so… so fucking real. It was as if I became that "me" each time, completely changing my perception of the world and my personality. It was an indescribably horrible, disgusting feeling that almost drove me mad.
I was sure there would be no problems from eating this fruit, which, by the way, dissolved after my first bite and seemed to flow into me. Why? Well, that deer-lady didn't go crazy. She remained the same, just Eve brainwashed her a little, as she was planning to do with Emily. And Eve herself had hidden the fact that she had tasted the Forbidden Fruit for a long time. She hadn't been turning into some kind of UFT (Unknown Fucking Thing) for years, so nothing like that should have happened to me either. And all my thoughts about the nature and function of these fruits…
But all that was nullified by what just happened. I was literally a different person. And… the first seven "versions" were related to what the old Adam considered Evil. And the eighth, the most disgusting and horrible, was what I, in my past life, considered the greatest evil in my life… Heaven, destroyed, burned to the ground. Lute, cut in half, Abel torn to pieces, and everyone else… No. I don't even want to remember it!
It turns out that all this time, the Fruit of Knowledge gave the opportunity to understand not just some "evil in a vacuum," but specifically personal evil? To realize what is evil specifically for the one who tasted the fruit, and to force them to experience all these feelings, to understand their horror and… to reject them? But why then does it unlock the Darkness in angels? Why did God himself forbid eating it, and… why did Eve, after realizing what evil is, decide to serve that very evil? No, wait, that's not right. What exactly did she consider evil, if after everything she experienced, she decided to act the way she does now? She was created not as a complete, independent being, but as my wife. Could that have had an effect? It fucking could have, but I just can't imagine what kind of trips she was on from that damn apple, so I have no idea what drives her now.
But how can anyone, after experiencing all that, even want to do Evil? I feel that my reserve of Darkness has grown significantly, and now it's on about the same level as my reserve of Light. I even feel a certain, still very cautious, interaction between them, but I definitely don't want to turn into some black monstrosity with eyes, nor do I want to do all sorts of shit. On the contrary, now I have even more desire for "world peace" and all that. So why then did God forbid eating this fruit? I've already understood that it only allows one to "know" the good and evil that the eater himself considers to be such, so does that mean that what is evil for one can be good for another? And why wasn't there anything pleasant, if it's the fruit of knowledge of "Good and Evil"? Or, to understand good, is it enough to first experience all of Evil? Damn, my head is spinning…
"Oh, you… you're such a handful…" Lute had long since changed and was now lying in bed, pressing against me and gently stroking my head. "Why did you even take such a risk? You went through so much… And what was it all for?"
"It… it will give us a chance not to kill Eve," I confessed, closing my eyes. I was incredibly sleepy. I was tired not physically, but mentally. Or rather, not "tired," but "fucking exhausted." "I forgave Lucifer and Lilith for their… 'mistake.' So why should I kill their victim? A person whom they simply deceived, pumped full of some crap that made her go nuts?"
"Adam, that's…"
"I understand perfectly well how naive and foolish this sounds right now, but I don't want to kill an essentially innocent person, when I've already forgiven the main culprits. I don't want to kill her. If there is even the slightest chance to resolve all this peacefully, then I want to take it. In the worst-case scenario… the power I've gained will be more than enough to end all this in a final battle." And all of this was the pure truth. I didn't want to kill Eve. And it wasn't the old Adam's love speaking in me, which doesn't mean that much to me anymore. I truly saw Eve as just a victim who did not choose such a fate for herself. Even Lucifer and Lilith aren't villains, just idiotic kids who meant well but "mixed up the pills," thereby poisoning the poor girl. To kill her… I didn't want to. I just didn't. The sinners… I feel sorry for them too. And I even spent a lot of effort to avoid unnecessary casualties, carrying out the extermination of only the truly fucked-up bastards… And who cares that in the end, there were more than a third of them… Significantly more…
"You silly boy…" Lute reached over and gently kissed my cheek. "You're still just as naive, no matter what you think… I can see you're tired, so good night…"
"I know, my sun… Sweet dreams," I'll have a hundred more chances to think all this through. But I should rest now… Digest everything I've been through, so to speak…