The figure was instantly engulfed in a dense, unnaturally black flame, and a surprised, pain-filled howl erupted from his mouth. It made sense; the black flame, created from both Light and Darkness, was practically impossible to extinguish. It would burn, growing stronger by consuming the energy it incinerated, and would continue to spread until the creator of the fire put it out himself. It also obeyed its user and could ignore specific, designated targets. Although Lucifer did tell me about one "expert" who once managed to burn himself to death, that was more of an exception…
Before this unknown figure could recover, I immediately filled the entire surrounding space with my Purity, which the black flame completely ignored. This created the ultimate combo, preventing the victim from using their magic, teleporting, or escaping in any other way. At the same time, they were forced to suffer from the black flame, which grew stronger with each passing second by absorbing its victim's energy. Lucifer had, of course, told me how to get out of this flame and how to get rid of it: you had to form a dense, concentrated shield of your own energy around yourself and, while the flame devoured it, teleport as far away as possible. But this loser who decided to "prank" me clearly didn't know this method. And thanks to the fact that I had already mastered the concept of Purity, his chances of escape were slim anyway.
"A-A-A-ARGH!" the unknown figure screamed, desperately trying to escape the fire. Meanwhile, I heard some noise from the house: it seemed Lute had woken up, which wasn't surprising. But judging by what I sensed from the unknown attacker, he had considerable power, and only my unexpected, swift attack helped me defeat him so quickly. And there was no guarantee he couldn't do something else. It looked like I'd have to move the location of our "battle." Though this was more of a beatdown…
With a snap, we were instantly transported to the outer space of my still not fully realized world. However, something new was already ready here, and if this battle didn't go as I had imagined, I had something to surprise any enemy, even the strongest one.
"ARGH! YOU BASTARD!" At that very second, my opponent seemed to time it perfectly, and such a strong, concentrated, and vile Darkness erupted from his body that I felt physically sick. And no, that wasn't some figure of speech; I genuinely felt disgusted and… scared? No. More like, just too repulsive. Who could possibly possess such power? Lucifer? No, his Darkness carried a coolness that was sobering, not something that made you want to vomit your own stomach out. Eve? Her Darkness was evil and aggressive, but it certainly didn't have this kind of loathsome filth. The Deadly Sins? They clearly weren't powerful enough, and their aspects were more attractive, which was the source of their power and danger. But this… was just an incredibly nauseating, revolting feeling. As if I were a young and inexperienced child again, seeing hundreds and thousands of rotting, decomposing corpses, with fat, white maggots crawling on them, their insides being devoured with relish by feral animals…
At that very moment, as I was creating my katana of pure Light with the concept of Purity inside it, the Darkness around him seemed to come alive, and my flame just… dissolved? No, it was as if it was… absorbed? Purity?.. No, this was…
"Hunger," the stranger said, his face literally changing as he stretched his cracking, charred lips into a repulsive, vile smirk. "Your attacks will simply be consumed. I'll be honest, Adam, I was very surprised when you used one of Lucifer's favorite attacks…" Lucifer's silhouette immediately blurred, falling apart, and the particles of my opponent's Darkness began to flake off his face as if it were melting wax.
"Judas…" I drew out the name, finally recognizing the one who tried to deceive me. A man with bright blue eyes and snow-white hair, in a strict black suit, looked at me with unconcealed satisfaction on his face.
Several thousand years ago, Judas was an ordinary man. It was around that time that I decided to come to Earth again, in the form of Jesus, to once more try to help people. Judas became one of my most loyal disciples and helpers until, one fateful night, an unknown dark dagger filled with the concept of Death fell into his hands… that very night, he attacked me from behind and plunged that dagger right into my chest. Only a miracle saved me from certain death then. Raphael managed to pull me back to Heaven, and Sera healed all my wounds. As for Judas… Raphael killed him, and his soul was supposed to perish forever in Hell, but it seems the bastard somehow survived…
"Oh, Adam, I'm so flattered that such a 'great' and 'mighty' man remembered a pathetic, insignificant person like me…" Judas declared with absolute falseness. "Yes… I have waited a long time for this moment to take my revenge on you… and now, it has finally come! You yourself have arrived in this unknown dimension where no one can help you, and your concept has proven weaker than mine! I couldn't have dreamed of a better gift! Confess, what have you mastered? 'Void'? Or 'Negation'? In any case, I've already tested it, and my Hunger is stronger…" Honestly, it felt like I was talking to some stoned, cracked-out idiot… "I've waited a long time for my revenge," "you're weaker than me," and blah-blah-blah… What a clown.
"Revenge? For what? For not killing you after your fucking betrayal?" I arched an eyebrow skeptically, buying myself some time to prepare and think through the situation.
The idea of a "stronger" and "weaker" concept was just stupidity. Sera had explained clearly enough how it all really worked: only ingenuity, a deep understanding of one's concept, and the overall amount of power decided a battle's outcome. Satan himself had recently proven this by dispelling my anti-magic field without possessing any "stronger" concept. Judas had simply overpowered the anti-magic field with his concept and raw power.
"FOR WHAT?!" Judas suddenly exploded with rage and hatred. A mad gleam appeared in his eyes, and his previously calm face, with its slight, smug smirk, twisted into an ugly, contorted mask. "YOU BASTARD, YOU DARED TO KILL AND RAPE MY WIFE, DESTROYING HER SOUL, AND YOU STILL ASK FOR WHAT?!?" Judas screamed.
Okay, now I didn't understand a damn thing. What the fuck wife? There wasn't even a hint of information about her existence in my memory, let alone… in short, I was completely lost and had no idea what he was talking about. Too bad, but it was already impossible to prove to this psycho that I had nothing to do with… that.
I had often seen people like this, both in my past life and in this one. People who had already made up their minds, unwilling to listen to any other opinion, and ready to do anything for their revenge… I was like that once myself… and it still feels disgusting…
"I didn't do anything of the sort…" I began, already knowing full well that we wouldn't have a normal, constructive conversation. A pity. But it seems someone had fooled him too… and here I was wondering why Judas had done what he did to me… Eve? It didn't seem like her, but there wasn't really anyone else… ah, screw it. I could already see the bastard concentrating his Hunger around himself. I'd have to strike first and think later. "...But it seems you no longer care about my words. In that case, I'll start by teaching you a little lesson…"
"Ha-ha-ha! Idiot! You were an idiot then, and you're an idiot now! A lesson? I will tear you to pieces, and then I will devour everything that was so dear to you!" Judas replied, bursting into insane laughter. Then, that vile Darkness flared from him again, and his power seemed to increase even more. Eve? No. The Darkness was his own, and it was fucking disgusting! Shit!
The space around us immediately cracked like thin glass, which wasn't surprising, as this world of mine was not yet fully realized. It was already cracking at the seams during the battle with Asmodeus, and Judas was significantly stronger than a Deadly Sin. The Darkness emanating from Judas didn't just press down on me—it seemed to be consuming the very fabric of creation. I saw the numerous stars behind him begin to fade. Or rather, they seemed to pop and were instantly drawn into him, adding to his strength.
I immediately teleported far away—tens of kilometers away—but his Hunger followed me instantly. It didn't have a specific direction; it seemed to be everywhere, filling the endless space and consuming planets and stars, popping and sipping them like bubble tea pearls. And then, Judas appeared before me again, greatly changed by Darkness and the concept of Hunger. He had grown several times in size, three pairs of huge wings with feathers as black as Darkness itself had sprouted from his back, and his body was covered in heavy armor, like that of some medieval knight. I hope he doesn't have a giant sword, does he? I mean, I'm not some long-haired blond of questionable orientation, but I have no desire to fight a Black Swordsman.
An unexpected strike from his claw, which elongated in an instant, passed through the protective dome of Purity I had set up and ripped out a huge chunk of space. Only my superhuman reflexes allowed me to avoid injury. A gaping, pulsating hole was left in its place, containing only emptiness. Judas was devouring space itself, and the numerous spears of Light I launched were simply sucked into his impenetrable armor.
"You're only buying time!" Judas's voice now came from everywhere at once. It was as if this entire space resonated with him, but control over this world still remained with me, which was at least somewhat comforting. "Every attack you make is food. Every attempt to defend yourself is food. Even your very life is just food for me!"
I raised my katana, and the bright blade immediately began to shine. I filled it with my Purity, and the vile Hunger around me instantly retreated, as if afraid of the energy now in my weapon. A second later, I was in front of Judas's face. A powerful, perfectly calibrated diagonal strike. A flash! Myriads of bright, blinding sparks of light filled the cosmos, but all I heard in response was Judas's satisfied, guttural rumble. My blade simply dissolved into his blackness, like a piece of styrofoam in solvent.
(Author's Note: I recently watched a very interesting video called: "WILL ALL THE STYROFOAM FIT IN A HUNDRED LITERS OF SOLVENT?". So, don't think I have a problem with my imagination, okay?)
"Hmm, you've got a monstrous appetite, I see," I grumbled, instantly restoring my katana and deflecting a claw strike from the armored bastard. "But tell me, Judas… aren't you overestimating yourself? Do you really think you can devour this entire world?"
In response, the armor-clad monster just laughed loudly. The sound sent shivers down my spine, as it seemed to come from everywhere, and only a deaf person could miss the notes of madness in it.
"I am Hunger. I am your Death. I am a hole that can never be filled!"
He immediately rushed at me. His body changed again, and his wings turned into a hundred huge, fanged maws. Dozens of long, bony arms grew from his chest, and a whole hailstorm of attacks, consuming absolutely everything in their path, rained down on me. I jumped back, then found the right moment and, in the next instant, was behind him. I swung—and plunged my katana into his black shell, right at the joint between his wing-maws and the armor itself. Click.
"Then it's time to fill your little hole, you little perv!" I smirked. My sword seemed to have gone in quite deep, and I even started pouring more and more Light and Purity into him… but then I realized—my sword was gone again. Dissolved. Not even from contact with his armor, but simply from being inside Judas's body.
"Useless!" Judas turned around. His head immediately split in two, and a long, flexible tentacle with another head, more like some kind of snout, extended from his helmet. "You are opposing Hunger itself! You can attack me, you can feed me your disgusting Light as much as you want, but I will just devour it all! Only your lying, pathetic God could overfill this vessel!"
With a swing of his dozens of arms, only my instincts, honed over years, allowed me to dodge another fatal blow. I dodged to the side, but the blow, with such a huge concentration of Hunger, did not pass without a trace for my world either. A stream of asteroid debris was immediately sucked into the gaping, pulsating scar in creation, feeding Judas, and streams of Hunger were already reaching for me, trying to devour me.
I immediately created a huge dome of Purity around myself, and the space around me was instantly cleansed, but the Hunger did not give up. It crashed into the dome and began to devour it, tearing out huge chunks of pure, golden radiance like some wild, hungry beast devouring fresh meat. Something inside me clenched. His concept really was disgusting. And what was even shittier—it was omnivorous. Light, Darkness, and even my Purity—all of it was consumed by him with ease. So what was I supposed to do with this thing now? Leave him here and just bail? He'd devour my entire world and then leave just as easily. He managed to get into Heaven somehow, didn't he?
I jumped back, using my command over this space and my concept of the Cosmos, creating numerous spatial distortions that began to deflect all his blows. His claws struck at me, but these distortions reflected all his energy back. It was a complex technique that only worked in this place, but Judas just laughed loudly and easily absorbed even that.
"Do you understand now?!" his voice was hoarse, but it held genuine satisfaction. "Your weapon is my food. Your world is my food. Even your vaunted Light is just food for me. I am the strongest!"
I straightened up and lowered my katana, exhaling heavily and looking with sorrow at the crumbling world. Tens, hundreds, thousands of bright lights around me were dimming. What was so recently a beautiful, living cosmos had now turned into a pathetic imitation of itself—an absolute, impenetrable blackness. Only the star hanging not far from me remained in its place, along with that small planet and the metal space station. I looked at this monster standing before me with a cold, predatory smile.
"No, Judas. You're just a very gluttonous, stupid idiot."
"What?!" he roared and began to grow again. It seems he noticed that the star, the station, and the planet, for some reason, were still in their places.
I took a step to the side as the space around me trembled, and that star began to move slowly but surely, straight towards Judas. And under his insane, joyful laughter, I finally decided to reveal to him one ti-i-iny, but very important detail…
"All this time, you've been eating nothing but emptiness. Just a pathetic shell of my unformed world. I let you eat as much as you wanted. But you never got full, did you?"
His eyes immediately narrowed. He flinched as if struck, and for the first time, a faint shadow of doubt flickered in his voice. He realized that he had indeed expended far more power than he had gained from consuming what seemed to be an entire world.
"What are you…"
I raised my hand… and gave him the middle finger, as the very same Sun flared up behind me. I had recently realized that my little sun was no longer enough and that, in literally a couple of years, it would be completely filled with energy, and then… it would explode… or something else would happen. I didn't want to risk it, so I simply expanded it, creating a huge, full-fledged star that now absorbed the Light of all the Seraphim.
"And right here is where all my power lies, the full might of a complete world. Do you really think you can devour it, weakling?"
The Sun burned brighter and brighter, and the cosmos itself trembled. There was enough energy in this Sun to fully realize this place, to make it real, but I hadn't touched it, preparing to use all its power in the battle against Eve… this idiot, of course, was not Eve, but I'm afraid he was far too dangerous to leave him even the slightest, most ghostly, chance of survival…
Judas froze for a moment. His ugly smile quivered, and his eyes widened. But instead of fear, there was only one thing in them—religious awe.
"MORE!" he roared. "GIVE ME MORE! I WILL DEVOUR THIS TOO! I WILL BECOME A TRUE GOD!"
He spread his arms wide, no longer paying me any attention, and his Hunger flared brighter than ever. The entire space around him immediately compressed and was pulled towards him as if to a giant magnet. His maws opened, their number growing from hundreds to thousands—and each of them now reached for the Sun, biting into it as if it were a juicy fruit. I saw his body begin to swell, the veins on it bulge, and his skin began to crack from the inhuman strain, but he had no intention of stopping. He was eating, and judging by the rate of his energy consumption, he could very well handle all of it. Man, what a monster… I seem to have greatly underestimated him. If this bastard had tried to do something similar in Heaven… I don't even want to imagine.
The Sun was slowly disappearing. Consumed by him, entering into his very essence, to the insane, triumphant laughter of Judas himself. But I remained motionless, calmly watching as his eyes began to roll back, as he began to tremble with pleasure.
"YES! YES! MORE!" his voice turned into some kind of animalistic roar. Broken, desperate, insane. "I CAN DO ANYTHING! I CAN SWALLOW EVERYTHING!"
Yes. This plan had formed in my head as soon as I understood what concept Judas possessed. He strongly reminded me of myself in the vision of Greed… in that vision, my body couldn't withstand the onslaught of Darkness, and I literally burst. But Judas had a better chance of successful absorption… well then, now let's add a little spice…
The white, shining star seemed to freeze for a moment, and then, it instantly changed its color to a bright violet—the color of the Cosmos concept. Yes, one of the greatest strengths of the Cosmos was its eternal, infinite growth; many even considered space to be endless. And that's what I bet on… well, initially, I thought a simple Sun would be enough, but Judas exceeded all my wildest expectations. So now, he would have to dissolve into eternity, desperately trying to swallow this bottomless, ever-growing something that had no end and no beginning… am I not a genius?
And my plan worked: thin, barely noticeable webs of cracks began to cover Judas's armor and body. White, glowing lines crawled across his body. First, thin as scratches. Then, deeper and brighter. A bright, blinding Light began to break through from within him. The Light trapped in his gut was not fading at all—it was just burning him even more intensely from the inside. Judas arched his back, screaming in inhuman pain, so loud that even my own head started to ache a little. His maws tried to break free, and his claws tore at the violet Sun, but even that no longer helped him—he had already become a vessel too weak to contain what he had just tried to swallow.
"NO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O!!! "
His numerous eyes burst, turning into burning, empty sockets. His maws spewed streams of Darkness, desperately trying to free themselves. His own Darkness tried to resist, but each of its efforts only made all the cracks deeper. I stepped forward, watching with cold detachment this agonizing monster that had once been a simple human.
"You wanted to ascend and become a God," I said quietly. "But the path of a God was not made for mere mortals." I touched my temple with two fingers. "Arrivederci."
After which, Judas exploded. He was literally atomized into the tiniest particles, then immediately sucked into the infinity of the still-growing violet Sun. The flash was so powerful that the entire black, empty space around me instantly turned into a pure, white vacuum, as if Darkness itself had disappeared from this world. The fragments of his former essence—shreds of Darkness and Hunger—desperately tried to cling to something, but the violet Sun just continued to pull in all these particles, absorbing them and continuing its relentless growth.
"Now, this is not very good…" I said slowly, seeing how this torrent of Cosmos energy was now sucking in everything around it, like a black hole. "Well then, I haven't done this in a long time, but I hope I can pull it off…" I exhaled and concentrated on a single action. It was time to realize this world…
I closed my eyes and directed all the energy from the violet Sun, simultaneously trying to "calm" it, to return Purity and Light to its core. I also recalled all of Lucifer's instructions on world incarnation, and my own experience creating that planet hanging nearby…
I'm not sure how much time passed before I realized that a new world had just been born before my eyes, but when I opened them, I saw myriads of bright sparks of stars, which shone, turning into miniature, young stars. The violet sun, meanwhile, had grown much thinner, losing its bright violet color, and now it illuminated the entire space around it with a gentle, white light, in which, however, a small violet spark still remained.
The world was finally realized. And not in the usual way—thoughtfully, with full understanding, to minimize costs—but on sheer will and power, with incredible, colossal expenditures and assumptions. And then, there was complete silence. I stood alone, my breathing gradually returning to normal. Although I didn't really need it, old habits…
"Whew, what a clusterfuck just happened here…" I moved my tired body to the "Death Star" and, sitting in my chair, exhaled with relief, covering my face with my hand. "Holy shit… why the hell was that asshole so strong?"
His desperate, dying scream still rang in my ears, along with the beat of my own heart when I realized who, or rather, what, I was forced to fight. But at least now, there was complete clarity in my head. I had won. And not because my concept was "stronger," but because Hunger isn't a strength, but a weakness. The desire to devour everything indiscriminately will always lead to you, sooner or later, swallowing something you can no longer handle. Thank you for this lesson, forbidden apple; without you, I probably wouldn't have figured that out…
The plan was simple from the start: let Judas show all his abilities, since I couldn't end the battle quickly. But he turned out to be stronger than I thought, and then an idea came to mind—to deceive him, to make him think he was so strong that he could devour an entire world. I didn't resist his Hunger at all, only defended myself, making him believe he was significantly stronger. Then, while he was eating thousands of stars, he thought it was a complete world, not just an artificial shell. And when I revealed this to him and showed him a truly "nutritious" fruit, he simply snapped, wanting to prove his strength to himself and to me, and to fill the emptiness in his soul.
It's no secret that concepts influence their users, and the stronger the concept and the more often it is used, the more it influences the user. So Judas simply couldn't not try to devour my Sun… It's lucky his self-control was shit, and I only took such a risk because I noticed how superficial Judas's understanding of power was: both his own and that of others. Which, however, is not surprising, because where could he have gotten the experience? He's hiding with Eve somewhere unknown and doesn't stick his nose out of that shithole, so he couldn't have developed an understanding of his own limits.
However, he turned out to be far too strong. He would have handled the energy of the Sun, and only changing the content of my "heart of the world" to something "limitless and ever-growing" helped me defeat him…
I sighed, lowered my hand, and looked at my palm. The final battle with Eve should not take place in Heaven or Hell. The human world is not suitable for it either. This freak was just too strong. Eve is definitely no weaker than him, but if even Judas survived after dying on Earth, then… someone else could have survived Hell and taken Eve's side… we were preparing for thousands of weak fallen cherubs and one extremely strong Eve, but… how many enemies like him do we actually have? And how can we win so that our victory doesn't become a Pyrrhic one?