The Devil Never Lies

"Twenty four hours." 

It was funny hearing the numbers, but it wasn't entirely wrong either.

"I knew the daughter of the man for more than that," I still presented the correct statement, "So, I cannot say it took only twenty four hours."

"Yet you took down one of the strongest men in the country with nothing but your wit." The voice echoed a sense of amusement, "Not many can take pride in that."

"Not many are Darius, not many are me." I asked the voice, "Now are they?"

"Possibly only you." It repeated, "A common name yet a unique man." 

The voice was pretty confusing. It tried to sound like mine, not in the tone but the language. And despite its efforts, I could very much figure out the essence of the old English it was used to.

"Then what am I now?" It was a sincere inquiry, one for which I sought an honest answer. "Will there be consequences? Perhaps I'm to be punished, even boiled alive?"

I wasn't the most honest man, and the voice wasn't so kind.

"You would." It said, "If it was the adjudicator before you."

Which it wasn't. If it were, it wouldn't be talking this calmly to me.

Does it matter? 

I had my share of fun, craziness, and even chaos. It was a good run, but now it was time for punishment.

The only wish? I hope I can bear it.

Hah.

It's not like I can do anything, even if I can't bear it.

"You don't sound scared?" It asked.

"Better to enjoy the moment of peace than to spend worrying, I am probably getting roasted alive in a moment anyhow."

The voice went silent, causing a little bit of nervousness to creep up to me. 

I wasn't the most brave or the most scared —I was just in between. Perfectly in the middle that allowed me to often screw things up without being blind enough to get myself killed.

Well not before today, but fuck today. I knew well enough what was to happen.

"But on a normal day you would be just in the middle to do enough to screw everyone around you, but not enough to get swallowed by the chaos."

I paused, looked ahead and stood silent.

"You can read my mind?"

"I can read your mind."

"Of course." I should have known, "You are a god, aren't you? Or some angel of God?"

I was dead, my head blown to bits and my body ran over by cars. So, who else but God or his angel would be before me?

"Unfortunately, or in your case, fortunately I am not."

That was surprising but in a way, it made my eyes flutter. 

Yeah, even I am surprised that such physical phenomenon can occur at this place.

"The devil?"

"The devil."

"Of course." Not the being I wanted, but definitely the one that I deserved. "Would be stupid to think that a god or an angel would waste their time on a screw-up like me."

This however, seemingly offended the devil.

"And you believe, I, of all people, have more time than an angel to waste on the dead?" 

He was offended, definitely offended. 

Maybe it was in me to offend everyone, even the devil.

"Maybe it is." The devil spoke, annoyed.

"I ask for forgiveness." The devil's influence was real, even as a dead man I was being influenced by him. I was not someone that spoke so formally, yet I was now talking with every bit of respect I could use. "What I meant was that you are known for being associated with the bad and the corrupt, to the extent that one might even interpret my words as a form of praise."

"By associating with the wicked I was fulfilling that belief, wasn't I?" The devil asked and I nodded.

"You were, so I hope you don't take offense enough to add to my already long list of punishments that are probably waiting for me." 

See, formal speech. I don't speak like that.

This time however, the devil laughed.

"Amusing man, and a good enough candidate."

"That doesn't sound too good." I blurted out, realizing that maybe I should have stayed quiet and taken whatever punishment was written for me instead.

But the devil consoled, which in my wildest dreams would not have been the case.

"Don't be so worried." His words made me much more worried, "I am the devil, not the angel of judgment."

That's what I am worried about. With an angel of judgment, my judgment would at least be… well, just.

 "You worry too much." The voice said and I couldn't agree more.

"My worries kept me alive for this long," I answered. "Even when I messed up the lives of others, I did not get consumed in the rubble because I was careful enough —worried enough. But the moment I turned off that aspect and went in blind with rage, I got myself killed."

"But you still ruined the person."

"I still ruined the person."

Was it worth it? Definitely not, I most certainly would have found a better way to go on about it. But, vengeance is like a drug, it clouds your vision.

"Are you satisfied with your revenge?" The voice asked and this time, I could not deny.

"Oh, most certainly I am."

I was getting used to this formal way of talking.

"It's good that you are getting used to it," The voice said, surprising me a bit. "But as I said before, you are not the person who should be worried about getting punished. It is not even the day of judgment."

Once again, I paused. He was right, I was too worried.

"So, it is not eternal damnation for me?"

"It will be." This crushed whatever little bit of hope I had awakened within me. "But maybe you can escape it."

And once again, the devil had my ears.

"Might I ask what you mean by that?"

I was interested and he caught onto that. Maybe not the best thing to have your ears filled by the devil's whispers, but not like I had any other choice at the moment.

"You can escape from the punishment, you can run from it." The voice said, "If you become a being like me, a force."

This instantly had me frowning. "You were punished," I tried reminding what the devil had forgotten. "Burnt, stripped, and banished."

"Oh, I was." He said, "But I was not stuck in that eternal damnation of torture like most of the humans would be."

He… did have a point.

"But, weren't you stripped of everything that you loved and were proud of?" 

His beauty, his golden light, and his status as the greatest angel of his time. 

"And I gained something else, power and authority over different aspects." He tried to counter my claims, but there were just too many flaws in his words.

"You were at God's mercy, forced to live and operate through hell for the sake of what is to come. You are a tool to aid God's plan." 

I wasn't the greatest believer, which can also be why I was met with Satan instead of an angel of judgment.

"You can be replaced anytime if God wanted, replaced by another being of evil?" I asked, "Isn't it?" 

"But why would he?" The devil asked, "I have become a force of evil and corruption that taints his prized creation. I am alive for this purpose, I am not to be punished and cannot be punished. Without my darkness, the light of the good cannot shine."

Not wrong, but he will once again be punished when the son of God descends again —won't he?

"And yet, I will not be erased." He claimed, "I am to remain till the end of time, balancing the side of evil."

"What can I gain from being a force like you?" I wanted to know, "I cannot escape your father, if anything my torture would only be increased in the future."

"And if you are successful in becoming like me, you will remain till the end of time."

That sounded more like torture than a blessing.

"Freedom." He said, "I was punished and will be punished once more, but I do have the freedom to slip through and corrupt others. I do not listen, I do not obey. I only do what I find enjoyable. And I have become a part of life doing so, enjoying my freedom."

He wasn't really free, but I do get what he means. 

"Being a force, you can do what you desire —what you wish to achieve and all that for the punishment that you are possibly meant to face anyways. But instead of rotting in eternal damnation, you will be punished once and then resume what you love —just like what I do."

He was good at persuading and if I was like most, scared and desperate —I would have taken his invisible hand instantly.

But I wasn't and so I had a question.

"You are already enough evil that the world needs, how can I be a force of evil to balance when you are already there?"

"Evil is never enough." He said, "Evil is never balanced."

"How so?" I asked and he laughed, "How many angels are there and how many Satans are there?" 

I thought for a while before finding an answer. "There might be only one Satan but there are many princes of hell and fallen angels."

"And none of them can hold for a second if the Archangels were to attack."

This time, I had no counter.

Other than Satan, the rest were incapable of facing any of the Archangels.

"Do you see how unbalanced it all is?"

Good at persuasion, I tell you.

"If God wanted balance, you would have balance, wouldn't you?"

"And if God didn't want to, you wouldn't be here, would you?"

I can see how Adam and Eve fell for his lies and deceit.

And I am not the good guy either, eternal damnation is waiting for me one way or the other.

"How do I become a force, enough to be seen above the princes of hell?" 

This drew a laughter from the being.

"Wise man, you are on the right path."

Trust me, I was anything but on the right track.

"And how can you make me a force when none of your other six princes and fallen angels are?"

"They are stagnant, fates sealed and growth predetermined."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning they had never been human."

Oh.

That's what it was about.

"Humans are the creation of God without a limit to their growth. They are unpredictable, their paths are to be determined by their own choices and the results they are to reach are also on them."

He wasn't wrong.

We were made the most free and most imperfect, so we could develop and change according to circumstances.

Something that no angel was capable of, no matter how great of a power they possessed.

"You can grow to be a force, but the fallen angels cannot." He explained, "So, with the path you choose you may even become a force to live eternally as a chaotic being of freedom."

So, it is damnation one way or the other. The question is if I am willing to explore a bit before that?

I mean… I have been through a lot of adventures and even more chaotic situations that I feel like I have lived for too long.

Then again, I wasn't even forty. 

I have barely lived half my life, so I did want to know what the future would have held for me.

"How do I grow and how do I become a force?"

"Do you know what the greatest thing a human possesses?" He asked, and in a stupid moment, I answered with 'heart.'

"Most animals and creatures possess a heart and even love for their family and close ones." The devil explained, "What humans possess uniquely is their imagination —their creativity."

I guess so?

Humans are the most creative beings, aren't they?

"It is through their creativity, their mind that they become superior to most beings and can be considered free —it's their thoughts."

Once again, no rebuttal. 

"Plague their imagination, ruin their creativity, bring their creation towards chaotic ends." His voice grew louder and much more excited, "Ruin everything, every masterpiece that they call, and turn it to your liking."

"And that will cause chaos by…"

"By making them feel like failures! By losing control over the creative freedom that they ever so enjoy." He held definitely held a grudge, "And when they are unable to control their own creativity and imagination, they will be no more than the trapped creatures like the rest of us —like angels, yet much more weak and pathetic."

"Creative works like… stories?"

"Precisely stories!" His voice boomed, "Everything starts with stories, tales. Tales of heroes and villains that motivate them and allow them to achieve greatness." He said, "Steal that freedom, steal that hope, and steal that motivation from them. Make the heroes lose, one story at a time, and soon there will be no story left to incite hope in humans. Everything will be grim and dark, and everyone will be monotonous."

Psychopathy starts with Satan, that is no exaggeration.

But, his words did hold some truth. 

"But aren't I betraying my own kind?" I asked, and the voice went quiet.

"Has that ever stopped you before?"

"Fair enough."

Who was I kidding?

"So, do you desire freedom?"

I do not know, but I do know that if it is damnation that I am to face. It is better to walk freely for a little longer than to be trapped in a void waiting for damnation.

"I consider myself witty, but not enough that my wits can surpass some of the creative monsters. So, I hope you will not simply throw me off into a story without giving me some tools?"

"Of course," the voice assured. "I have seen the monsters created out of imagination. I know better than to send you unequipped."

I wonder what he would give me.

And the big bad decided to answer my thought instantly.

"I will be giving you five gifts, five I will select for you at the start. And once you move from one imagination to another, you will have to either keep the same five or replace one or all of them according to your desire."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, with each new world of imagination you will receive five more choices, curated according to the world. And from those, you can replace your existing gifts and choose a set of gifts that you think best fits the world."

This did make me wonder, though, "Then why would I choose a weaker power? If I get a stronger one at the start?" 

And he had a perfect answer for that.

"Creative worlds are complex and you cannot ruin them instantly. You will have to adjust to the world, because you are an outsider and not a force of nature yet."

What he meant was…

"Your gifts will scale according to the world of imagination, either growing stronger or weaker as you change worlds. So, it would be idiotic to keep the same powers for every world. After all, the power of the brutes can be very useless in a world of scientific greatness."

Fair point, so I would have options but only five at a time for each world.

"Do you accept?"

Not like I had many other choices.

"I do."

"Excellent!" His voice cackled, "Your world will be decided in a moment, but first you will be presented with the gifts!"

And with that sentence, I saw five orbs of light, of different colors flowing towards me.

Red, Green, Blue, White and Black. 

"Choose the powers one after the other." The voice ordered, 'According to what you see fit."

There was quite a bit of freedom, I won't lie.

"Very well."

And with that, I decided on the color.

Shades of blue have always been my favorite, and so I chose the blue first. And the color danced towards me with a single thought.

"Take the orb in your hand." The voice instructed and I followed the command —letting the blue light land at the palm of my hand and allowing for it to be absorbed into my body.

It did feel a tiny bit warm as it went inside my hand, but in a matter of seconds, I realized just why.

`Magic of the Runes.`

A stream of information flowed inside my head, just enough for it to make me feel dizzy but not enough to make me feel any pain.

The stream of knowledge was massive. I could see symbols in my mind, each meaning a certain thing that I could understand.

It was not a language of earth, there were such symbols —it felt entirely made up to me but I could understand them as easily as I understand my own language.

I could form meaning, sentences or even phenomenon by arranging those weird mystical letters.

What felt like nonsense, made a little too much sense to me. 

"Congratulations," the voice applauded. "You have received a good ability."

Runes were mystical, used in mythological stories like that of the Greek and Nordic. So, I could guess what I could do with it. And the information I had gained alongside the power, I knew countless ways to survive with just the blue orb.

"There are many more colors if you have forgotten," The voice that seemed to lack patience reminded. "Choose the next color."

Huffing from the overload of information, I looked at the orbs and chose the one that went alongside blue.

"Red," I said. "I choose red."

And soon, the bright and thick shade of red in the form of an orb flew close by, before landing onto my palm and seeping inside just like the previous blue.

This time, my body shuddered, not from cold but from what went through my entire body instead of just my mind.

A sharp sense of shock, again not enough to cause harm but enough to make me stumble a little.

`Magic of the Elements.`

Fire, Earth, Water, Lightning, Light, Dark and a combination of countless things spun around my head. Combinations that allowed for their creation, molding and destruction. It was a lot of information, but it felt great.

It felt like I could create things out of thin air, which was a false facade as it would be only conversion of an element to another.

But in that instant I felt like I could create and destroy anything.

"My realm is without restriction." He spoke, "So, you may feel like you can create and destroy the world. But do remember that your power is dependent on the world you are in, it will not make you the untouchable being that you feel like you are."

I already knew that, but it felt insanely good at the moment. So good that I decided to call the other orb even without his instructions.

"Green," I said. And following the pattern, the orb made entirely of green moved towards me, seeping inside me much more gently than the others.

And for this orb, it made me feel calm and energetic.

`Magic of the Protection.`

I felt my mind flooded with knowledge to protect me of sickness, of curses and of evil spirits. It felt like I could get rid of any negative curse thrown at me.

"It will not let you heal physical injuries, it will not make you immortal." He reminded, "It will simply prevent you from getting cursed or being affected with a degeneration skill. It will bring your self back to the original one, without any curse stuck to you."

That meant a lot.

I could find knowledge of how to counter poison, weakening and many other spells and curses.

It was as if I was blessed with the knowledge of the god of health.

But who am I kidding? It is Satan organizing for his entertainment.

And so I chose the last two orbs at once.

Risky, but he won't let me die that easily, would he?

"Black and White."

"Brave." He said as the two orbs instantly reached me and seeped inside me, not from the palm but from the ears —as if whispers.

And then I got the knowledge.

`Magic of the Mind.`

`Magic of the Darkness.`

Of how to prevent others from going inside my mind, read my thoughts and how to shield the true memories with false ones. 

I even got the reverse of that.

How to go inside someone's mind, how to read someone's thoughts and how to discern the fake from the true memories.

And there was a little regarding corrupting the thoughts and memories of people as well.

But that apparently only worked for people with a lesser will than my own.

"Your greatest weapon is your mind, keep it safe." He reminded, but that was something I knew about myself better than him. 

And finally, I had received something crazier.

And maybe… scarier. 

"Dark Magic."

Curses, Hexes, Jinxes, summoning of spirits and vile beings. Dealing with the dead and the pathetic.

It was a lot of horrid information that I would have done without.

However, looking at my face, he laughed. "Should have known that the devil would not give you magic of the angels."

Should have known indeed.

But it wasn't that bad. I could use it, I could think of something with it. 

But I did wonder, what kind of a world required such knowledge.

"I could not have given you such powers by myself alone." He said, "I am bound by the laws of my father as well. So, for these powers, every prince of hell and fallen angel came together to give you the powers."

That was new information.

"And it made us weak as well. For quite a long time, we and especially I will have to rest in this realm." He said, "So, I leave the work of chaos to you."

His voice indeed felt tired, something I failed to notice earlier.

"The world you will go first is not the strongest, but if you dive deep into it, it has things that even the fallen would fear."

That wasn't reassuring.

"In a moment, your eyes will close and you will understand what world you are going to. So, by then… Prepare yourself. You will not obtain a new body, nor will you obtain a new identity. Everything has to be forged by you and forged in a way that you do not end up killed before you even walk there. Because remember…"

This is when he dropped a bombshell.

"If you die in there, your soul dies for eternity, lost and tortured in a void worse than mine."

He never told me that before.

"So go and cause chaos, for that is your life."

He kept that hidden. He only told the half truth!

"For that is the way of the devil, and you are now an agent of mine."

The devil never lies!

"The agent of the devil!"

But neither does he say the entire truth!

And before I could protest any further, before I could say even a single thing more. My body became cold, colder than the void around me. 

The darkness swallowed me whole, pulling my consciousness into its depths like the devil's own grasp.

"Can I see what you look like?" I asked with the last bit of strength that I possessed, but he denied.

"Maybe in time, yet not now." He said, "For you will burn as father wished. An angel or a devil is not one to look at, but one to be heard —by the kind and by the wicked."

I was weak and pathetic.

That is what he meant.

"Now go, and live for chaos. A new world, a new life and a new way." He said, "Do what you are desired of and you will be able to run from damnation till the end of time."

A part of me wanted to ask what was to be my fate beyond the end of time.

But my body was weak, throat dry and eyelids heavy. And in that moment of weakness —my eyelids closed shut and mind numbed.

Yet hearing a voice over and over again.

And this time, the first time, the voice spoke —

`The first world of imagination —Potterverse.`

A world that I grew up with.

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[[A/N: Read 150+ Advanced Chapters on Patreon (Including all stories).

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P.S. About the powers, it is not a Nerf for each world. It can be thought of like a nerf if he is moving from a world like HP to let's say, Riverdale, where there is no superpowers. Then his powers will be lowered to not break the world instantly by him stepping into the world.

But now imagine him taking a step into a world like Marvel, then his powers would be instantly adjusted to the world —which is a buff. Each world he goes to, his powers will be adjusted to be just one level below the peak for that power in that world setting. ]]