Part 3

Even though Zahak's handsome eyes widened for a moment, they became angry in the next second, and his heart regained its courage. The muscles of his arms were stimulated, and he attacked the ugly old man with a rebellious attack. The old man did not move from his place, his fingers did not twitch, and his eyes did not even blink. Instead, he looked mockingly at Zahak's attack, as he reached out to grab the old man's collar and throw him wherever he pleased. But Zahak's attack did not end except with a great widening of his eyes with a disbelieving look at the old man.

He passed by the old man like the wind. He sharply turned to the old man, only to find him standing in his place, looking at him with his mocking eyes, shaking his being. Who is this person?

Strangely enough, Zahak's reaction was not frightened but rather puzzled. Then suddenly, he made up his mind and quickly headed towards the torch that illuminated the room with fire. He grabbed it with one hand and threw it with all his might at the standing old man. He saw with his own eyes the torch passing through the old man's body and falling to the ground. At that moment, the old man's gaze turned into a terrifying one, his eyes filled with anger, he looked at the torch once, and in one look, he extinguished it in its place.

The ancient Babylonian mind of Zahak began to think, ignorant of what to do exactly, but this time it was the old man who moved.

In less than a blink of an eye, he was holding the torch while Zahak was near it. In the next blink, something happened that made Zahak retreat automatically.

The old man became two old men, then three, then ten. The number of old men multiplied until some of them were flying in the air, all of them carrying torches.

Then they all threw the torches, like one man's throw, at Zahak, who retreated and stumbled, falling on his back. The fire ignited in the room around Zahak, who did not know how to escape. The old man penetrated Zahak's mind and read what he was thinking. The strange thing was that all Zahak's mind was occupied with was a revolution of anger and a determination to defeat this entity that he did not know how to define. This amazed the old man.

Suddenly, more than fifty old men turned into one who approached Zahak amidst the fire and said to him with a hissing voice:

"Do not bother yourself with thinking with your limited mind, oh son of Kush, for I am ahead of you."

Zahak raised his arm in front of his eyes, trying to shield them from the fiery blaze, and said:

"Who... who are you?"

The old man said to him sharply and slowly:

"I am Lucifer, the Prince of Light, on the day the light was created."

Suddenly, the fire extinguished as if it were a harsh illusion. Lucifer continued:

"You are the chosen one, oh son of Kush. You are the one I have chosen for my light and insight. With me alone, you will become the greatest person on Earth. With me alone, you will learn the secret of "magi". With me alone, you will possess the Earth with its humans, its jinns, and its treasures."

Zahak wanted to speak, but Lucifer continued his speech:

"No one but you is fit to be a mighty ruler of Earth. No one but you is fit to lead these sheep. It is not for anyone but you to know the secret of "magi". So if you for want your perishable being to have all that power of which I have only shown you a tiny fraction, come to

If you wanted your ephemeral existence to attain all that power of which I have shown you only a tiny fraction... come to Mount Damavand... and ask the children there about "Lucifer"... and they will bring you to me.

Then the old man disappeared from in front of him as if he had never been there... leaving Zahak in shock... a shock that would change his entire life in the days to come.

*****

Mount Damavand... in the pitch-black darkness of the night, a handsome young man walks hesitantly on the slope of the dark mountain, searching for the children. And what children would be in a place like this? He can barely see his own hands, and can only hear the whisper of the earth. From time to time, human-like shadows smear the rocks of the mountain. Zahak's restless soul starts to haunt him, and he shouts at the top of his voice:

"Oh, old man, here I am in Damavand. Where might you be?"

But he heard no response, only repeated echoes that add an unsettling touch to the silent atmosphere. Then he senses something moving cautiously. Soon, he realizes it's not just one thing, but multiple things, moving toward him with careful steps that create faint sounds on the ground.

Zahak narrows his eyes to sharpen his gaze, and then he saw them—not bodies, but eyes. Eyes shining like those of wolves. They were everywhere— in front of him, to his right and left. Their eyes didn't appear friendly, and strangely enough, Zahak didn't feel fear or anxiety.

Instead, he shouted at them with a strong voice of reproach:

"Where is Lucifer? Where is the one who calls himself the Prince of Light?"

At this point, their small bodies became visible. There were about a hundred of them surrounding him, staring at him with a fixated gaze that expressed astonishment. They looked like a gathering of angry kids, dressed in black with long, dark hair.

They all turned simultaneously, walking towards the north, and Zahak followed them cautiously. They led him to what resembled a cave on the mountain slope, then dispersed into two groups, creating a path between them. Zahak looked at them and walked through their midst into the cave, where, as promised by Lucifer, he awaited him.

He wasn't an old man, nor was he crippled. He was Lucifer, and there was no other description for him except "Lucifer."

He sat on a large chair, wrapped in darkness, Despite the presence of one or two dimly lit torches, a sense of terror crept into Zahak's heart.

The being sitting before him was not human, although it had the anatomical form of a human. His face was not clearly visible, as the darkness concealed it. Those were not human hands, nor were these human fingers or human nails. nor were these shoulders human shoulders either.

What exactly was this thing? Could it be God on His throne? Zahak's ancient Babylonian mentality couldn't comprehend that he stood just a step or two away from the Devil—Lucifer. He didn't realize that he was standing before "Satan" himself.

*****

Things began to become clear slowly; the face that was shrouded in darkness approached the field of vision, and the falling sparks of the dancing flames began to reveal it. The cells in Zahak's body became agitated, then this stimulation turned into astonishment.

That entity that was supposed to be "Lucifer" had long hair touching the ground, and this hair cascaded heavily on his face, completely hiding his features. You couldn't tell if you were in front of him or behind him.

Lucifer said in a thunderous voice:

"I have chosen you, Zahak, from among all the people on Earth. Despite living a wretched life, you have a dead fearless heart, a brave heart, and a rebellious spirit."

Zahak was taken aback for a moment and felt sweat dripping down his forehead due to the presence of the entity sitting in front of him.

He said with a trembling voice:

"Why have you chosen me?"

Lucifer angrily replied, and Zahak couldn't find a reason for it, but it was a fact that his thunderous voice hinted at anger:

"For you to own the humans, to be the first mortal to learn the secret of "magi". However..."

Lucifer paused for a moment and then said:

"We must awaken your dead heart through a test. Since if the wrong person obtains the secret of "magi", they will die instantly."

The word "test" ignited something in Zahak, so he asked: "What is this 'magi' that you keep mentioning? And what is this test?"

Lucifer abruptly interrupted him and said:

"To see me..."

Zahak didn't understand a thing, but he understood from the conversation that Lucifer's thunderous voice and terrifying tone were not to be taken lightly.

Lucifer continued in a frightening tone:

"To see me without trembling. If you reveal a glimpse of fear in your eyes when you see my face, even for a moment, I will kill you instantly. And if you see me and remain composed, the secret of magi will be yours alone, and the whole world will be folded before you, and all human souls will submit to you."

Zahak remained silent for a long time and then said:

"Reveal your face then, O' YOU."

Suddenly, the hair on Lucifer's face receded with surprising speed, and his demonic face leaned closer to Zahak. At that moment, Zahak witnessed the most terrifying and horrifying face on Earth, the face of Satan himself.

The already present sweat on his forehead increased, and he felt the air vibrating around him due to the hideousness of that face.

Zahak's heart pounded heavily, and it fell to most-bottom, but he kept his eyes fixed and began to think about the most beautiful and joyful things to distract his mind from the hideousness of that entity. However, as the seconds passed, fear crept into his heart from what he was seeing. But he regained his courage with astonishing bravery and said in a voice trying to make firm and undisturbed, "Who exactly are you?"

Lucifer spoke, and his face became even more terrifying as he said:

"I am the rebellious Devil."

That encounter was the first meeting between a human and a jinn in the history of Earth. It took place in Babylon, the first human civilization after Noah's flood.

Zahak began to visit that cave every night, and Lucifer taught him the secret of "magi". In the language of the Babylonians, "magi" meant sorcery (magic), and Zahak became the first sorcerer (magus) to walk the Earth.

As for history, it referred to him by a name that become so famous that people believed it to be his real name.

Zahak became famous in history as "Nimrod"- "the king Nimrod".

After a few days had passed since that demonic encounter... Zahak set up a trap for his "Kush", a pit of moderate depth with more than fifty adjacent spears planted at its bottom. The pit was covered with tree leaves.

This was the first trap ever set in history... the trap that killed King Kush and turned his body into a human sieve, the trap that led Zahak, his son, to ascend the throne and become the bloodiest and most insane king, not only among the kings of Babylon but among the kings of the entire world- "Zahak", "King Nimrod".

To be a powerful king was understandable... but to be a powerful, oppressive, sorcerer-king, wicked, and corrupt... that created unprecedented evil on Earth, Nimrod was all that.

He was the first to place a crown on his head,the idea of the crown itself was taken from the kings of the jinn. He crafted a magnificent golden crown for himself, and a large golden ring.

History recalls that when Nimrod placed the crown on his head, and said:

"We are the kings of the world, the owners of everything in it."

And no one understood the true meaning of the word "we" until now.

(TN: I think that the words -sorcery- and -sorcerer- are more suitable compared to magic and magus.)