Chapter 4: The Demon
"Why did God make us create angels ourselves?"
"Keep your voice down, Michael. You'll disturb my God," Samael said coldly, glancing back towards the main hall.
"Your Highness, look at him!" Michael protested, turning to Lucifer for judgment. He was the first angel to be born, and God had personally confirmed his status. Although not yet formally appointed, the Seraphim all tacitly acknowledged him as their leader, respecting him as His Highness.
Lucifer, carrying the soundly sleeping Belial, wasn't keen on participating in the childish squabble between the two Seraphim.
"Samael is right. Father God is omniscient and omnipotent. Michael, you should tone it down."
Michael gave a curt "Oh," sullenly folding his wings, his face full of resentment. Lucifer knew exactly what he was thinking.
"Other things are one thing, but you shouldn't think about such nonsense in front of God."
God can read minds, and the Seraphim were all intelligent; they understood immediately. "That was God's test of our abilities," Gabriel, the only female angel among them, possessed a rather assertive personality.
"We shouldn't be thinking about why, but how."
"Didn't God give us a demonstration? What do you say, Raphael?"
Beelzebub lazily interjected, pulling the angel who had been silently walking beside Lucifer into the conversation.
Raphael was also a six-winged angel, but the Seraphim clearly sensed his difference.
He was too weak.
If Lucifer's strength was unfathomable, like God's, and the other Seraphim were evenly matched, none able to see through the others, then Raphael was someone they could see right through.
He was a prototype, or rather, a flawed product; God had personally demonstrated to them how to create an angel.
But even so, he was still created by God.
"Raphael, what are your thoughts?"
Lucifer's attitude was very approachable. He was as humble as God had hoped, treating his companions equally and patiently and politely seeking guidance.
Raphael, with his flaxen hair, looked up. His appearance might not have been as striking as the Seraphim, but his gentle, calm eyes shone with peaceful wisdom.
Raphael smiled gently, neither arrogant nor servile.
"Angels are pure and untainted spirits."
"We all know that," Michael said, puzzled. Lucifer smiled.
"I understand."
Inside the Great Cathedral, God watched the Seraphim below, their faces beaming with joy, lost in thought. Only God knew that after creating Lucifer, his attention had become less focused.
There could only be one Lucifer; this was a vow God had made, one that even God himself could not disobey. Therefore, he bestowed upon Michael unparalleled power and courage, and in return, the child's mind was weakened.
He granted Gabriel chastity, yet in his mind floated a flock of fiery red, long-necked creatures flying in the sky. God named these creatures, as vibrant as fire, flamingos. At God's command, the Book of Creation flipped back and forth, revealing a full-body image of the flamingo. Although this creature had not yet been created, God knew that flamingos existed in the world, and not only flamingos, but also pearl birds, flamingos… and countless other species. It was truly wondrous; whenever God thought that was the entirety of the world as he knew it, he would find his connection with the world strengthened.
This lapse in concentration during creation was not accidental. When creating Samael, a gigantic serpent appeared in his mind.
Therefore, although Gabriel was born serene, his nature was fiercely rebellious. He endowed Samael with the power of just judgment, and the world robbed him of the angel's tact, making Samael's temperament cold and hard. m.X520xs.Com
So he took Beelzebub's temperance, yet the world made Beelzebub perfect in every way. He gave Metatronia nothing, and Metatronia lacked nothing. Thinking of this, God watched through the void as Lucifer led his companions out of the Great Cathedral.
He gave Lucifer everything; what would the world take away from him?
The angels were stepping out of the Great Cathedral when, in an instant, a rush of air met them, carrying an intense pressure that rendered them unable to move forward or backward, unable to move an inch.
The Crystal Heaven was so terrifying. They had only survived because of God's protection within the Great Cathedral. Lucifer, protecting Belial, looked back and saw Michael sheltering Raphael beside him, and breathed a sigh of relief.
"My God..." he uttered, when the surrounding winds suddenly stopped, and they landed on a pure, white land.
"This is the seventh day. Create angels here."
The other angels were still catching their breath, only Lucifer gazed at the heavens.
"Have you been watching us all along, my God?"
"I am everywhere."
The ethereal divine voice descended. Lucifer saw that his companions showed no change in expression, knowing that only he had heard God's words.
"The Crystal Heaven is my domain, not fit for ordinary angels. I have set up a teleportation array in the Starry Heaven. If you have urgent business, you may use it."
[My God, it is time to create demons.]
The Book of Creation, seeing that God had not moved for a long time, couldn't help but remind him.
After instructing Lucifer, God finally withdrew from his thoughts, only to be reminded by the Book of Creation that he was about to create the creatures of Hell.
He agreed to Hell; what Heaven has, Hell should also have. But to make creations of light live in a dark and sunless Hell would be too much to ask.
After a moment's thought, God pointed a finger, and a halo appeared out of thin air before him. Then, seemingly endless dark power surged forth. This power was incredibly surging. From the beginning of creation, God had always drawn to light and distanced himself from darkness, allowing the accumulation of dark power to reach a terrifying level. Now, receiving God's summons, the dark forces were overjoyed.
The darkness, unrestrained, poured forth from the opening that connected God to it. The towering black waves seemed intent on sweeping God away with their intensity. The dense dark power filled the Great Cathedral. Had God not sealed the main hall in time, the Crystal Heaven might have become the Black Crystal Heaven.
Using the power of darkness to create dark things, God began to condense the bodies of demons with his divine power. The darkness that filled the cathedral was unbelievable; God created seventy-two demon gods before exhausting all the dark energy. Then, without mercy, he cast all seventy-two demons into the Nine Hells.
"Why is God so angry?"
"It's because you licked God's finger!"
"But God touched my horn! I thought I'd been chosen!"
"Shut up, Baal! Even if you're the first demon God created, I won't listen to you!"
"Then let's try it." The demon god Baal licked his lips, his crimson eyes tinged with a wicked killing intent.
Hell is ruled by the strong, utterly without order, and soon they were locked in a fierce battle for territory.
God, wiping his fingers on his throne, paid no heed; he had other matters to attend to.
After seeing the demon off, God cleared a space in the Grand Cathedral and planted a newly sprouted tree.
This was the World Tree, with nothing remarkable about it except its ability to be eaten. The World Tree felt wronged; it could only grow faster and gain power by eating.
God noncommittally touched the two newly sprouted buds on the World Tree, instructing it to devour the remaining dark power here. Then came the seventh day. The Seraphim were still engrossed in their work of creating angels. God glanced at them, but didn't disturb them, choosing instead to spend his time in the mortal realm.
It was night, and little had changed in the mortal world. To prevent the plants from dying from excessive sunlight, God withdrew his holy light. Even so, God was still bathed in a faint, radiant glow, like moonlight, but more sacred.
The night was silent; no one dared disturb the god's tranquility.
Suddenly, a gentle breeze stirred. God turned his head, his silver hair flowing like moonlight.
Something was approaching. His golden eyes gazed at the darkness, deeper than the night itself. God had never allowed his creations to see his true form, but now, sensing a creature approaching, he didn't let his holy light cover him.
Because it was unnecessary.
From the darkness, a gigantic monster slowly emerged—Behemoth.
When the Chaos Dragon was created, a small wisp of chaotic energy gave rise to Behemoth, which was then cast into the Abyss along with the Chaos Dragon. Now it has grown to this size.
The god concealed his presence, watching Behemoth slowly approach. It had no eyes and couldn't discern directions, relying solely on its bronze skin and iron bones for movement. It crushed any obstacles it encountered, traversing as if on flat ground, until it reached this boulder, which it pushed against with force.
"Why aren't you moving?"
Of course, it couldn't be crushed, because the god was standing on this boulder. However, Behemoth didn't dwell on it, thinking that if it couldn't move, it would rest. It coiled itself at the god's feet, the pungent smell of blood rising from it.
"It hurts like hell!" Behemoth's voice wasn't hoarse, but it certainly enjoyed speaking in a rough, gruff tone.
"You're injured," the god said, looking at the wound on Behemoth's chest. It wasn't inflicted by an ordinary weapon; ordinary weapons couldn't harm Behemoth.
Behemoth was startled. It tried to leap, but a hand pinned it to the spot, rendering it immobile. This terrified it.
"And who are you, demon, to possess such power?"
"A demon?"
"Only demons would want to subdue me!" Behemoth struggled again, but couldn't break free. It roared in despair.
"Because I was created by God, and you all want me!" Seeing no hope of escape, Behemoth sadly retracted its claws.
"But I am nothing! Leviathan said God doesn't know of my existence."
"God knows everything."
"If God knew, he would have imprisoned me at the bottom of the sea with him," Behemoth retorted.
God found Behemoth's thoughts strange. Why would he imprison Behemoth?
"Leviathan is imprisoned there," Behemoth said.
"I wanted to be with her, but Leviathan drove me out. I'm forced to wander this land, and recently so many demons have appeared."
"You…" The god paused slightly, looking at Behemoth's furry head, and spoke to it in its own tone.
"Your injuries were caused by demons?"
"Who else but those damned demons!" Behemoth shouted again.
"Are you really not a demon? I tell you, I'd rather die than be a demon's mount!"
"No," the god replied.
"Why did God create demons? Does he like demons?"
This question stumped the god, but Behemoth clearly didn't expect an answer. It muttered to itself.
"He probably doesn't like them, just like with Leviathan, creating them and then leaving them aside."
"But if he doesn't like them, why create them?"
"Does creating something you don't like cause the god pain?"
The god paused, a smile slowly appearing in its golden eyes.
"Are you worried about God? Even though he's never cared about you."
"I'm not worried about God. Actually, I hate Death, but Leviathan will be sad, and I don't want her to be sad."
"You really dare to say that? Aren't you afraid God will hear and punish you?" God stroked Behemoth's messy fur, listening to the dragon's purring, feeling his guard gradually lower under this gentle touch.
"I'm not afraid of God. He's never liked me, and I don't need to like him," Behemoth smugly snorted.
God chuckled. He didn't care about the likes or dislikes of any of his creations, but most were naturally drawn to him. This was the first time Behemoth had so bluntly said he disliked him. In fact, he hadn't imprisoned the Chaos Dragon Leviathan.
But it seemed to make no difference to the creations. Indeed, he had created them, but never intended to accompany them.
"Compared to God or demons, I quite like you,"
Behemoth suddenly said, and God looked at it in surprise. "Are you an angel?"
"Hmm?"
"If all angels look like you, that's not so bad. I can understand why God likes angels." Behemoth stood up and took two steady steps.
"Look, you healed my wounds, thank you!" It happily stomped its feet on the ground, then affectionately snuggled closer to God, drawn by his scent.
"Would you like to come with me for a while, Behemoth?"
"How do you know my name?"
"I know everything."
"Really? That's wonderful. I wish I were like that. Everyone says I'm a bit stupid."
"Who said that?"
"A demon. He captured me once, and I almost escaped. He's very cunning, his name is A…A…"
"Agares." God naturally remembered the name of the second demon he created; it was indeed a demon whose appearance could not deceive him.
"Yes, Agares, oh my god, I love talking to you! You really know everything! So, where shall we go?"
The god patted Behemoth's head and held a juicy fruit to its mouth.
"What is this?"
"The fruit of the Tree of Wisdom."
"I don't need to eat," Behemoth refused.
"It's sweet."
Behemoth didn't know what sweetness tasted like. It had never eaten before and didn't want to, but this 'angel' was stubborn to the point of being forceful, and for some reason, it didn't want to displease the other party.
It lowered its head and reluctantly put the fruit in its mouth.
The moment it swallowed it, it keenly noticed that its body had undergone some kind of change. Its forelimbs grew longer, and its hind limbs stood up uncontrollably.
"What's wrong with me!" Behemoth walked somewhat uneasily toward the 'angel,' but as soon as it took a step, it stumbled forward as if it had forgotten how to walk.
"You've taken human form," the god said, catching the transformed Chaos Dragon to prevent him from falling.
Behemoth knew what transformation was. When power reached a certain threshold and was successfully overcome, a Chaos Dragon could conjure a bipedal body like the god's. Leviathan's transformation was that of a little girl.
"I thought I'd never be able to transform," Behemoth murmured, silent for a moment. His newly formed hands still clutched the angel's hair; the soft, smooth touch was truly addictive. He stroked it several times, gradually becoming excited.
"Can I have another fruit?"
"Only one," the god said gently, withdrawing his hair.
"Alright," Behemoth clicked his tongue regretfully, but inwardly he was thinking:
He had to trick this angel into giving him another fruit; he wanted Leviathan to taste it too.
"..."
The god, who had heard his thoughts perfectly, almost chuckled. He had indeed grown wiser.
You provided the author, Twilight, with a tale of the arduous journey of creating a world within the framework of Hebrew mythology.