1 Chapter 1: All the World's Evil (edited)

Pain.

Agony.

That's all Salem could think about.

The pain.

The pain.

ThE Pain!

ThE PaIN!

P̶̨̺̄̈́̂Ä̷̹́̉̈͜!̵̯̮͌̆͋̆͛N̸̥̿͜!̴̲͊̎

Constant pain. Constant agony. Endless torment. Every day, every week, every month, every year, every day every day every day every day every day every day every day every day every day never ending never ending never ending ṋ̶͙̱͗͐e̸̱̮͖̣̳̎v̵͈̰͛̋̊̎ͅe̸̡̞͂̈́̾͝r̶̠̹͗́̋ ̵̜̺͕̤̖̾̋̈́̕ȩ̸̛̻̖̠̐n̸̛̤͈͆ͅd̸̗̝̱̿̉͑͜i̶͍̦̅̏̐̽n̶̺̥̝̉̌g̴͈̼̦̯̩̈́̐̓̏̓ ̶̢͚̻̽͗̾n̷̡̛̒̓̍̈́ȅ̶̺̬̗̭̗̍v̵̧̑̕ḙ̸̰̼͙̏̈̍r̸̡̲̟͎̲̓̈́ ̷͓̮̳̫̐̾͒e̵̹͓̣̞̹͆n̴̻̦̯̖͓̈́́ď̶͙̳̱̰i̶̭̤̜̎͝n̷̫̓̀̎͛̊g̵̨̢̗̣͋͑̿.

Everyone caused him pain. The gods, humans, elves, amazoness, demi-humans, and monsters all caused him pain. They all loved to torture him. To yell his various crimes he never committed.

How did he kill your husband when he's chained in an abandoned building? Why is it his fault your child never returned from the dungeon? Why was it his fault magic weapons destroyed your home? Why was he evil? Why was he an abomination? These questions plagued his mind when it wasn't in agonizing pain.

He hated them; he hated everyone. Why was everything his fault? What did he do wrong?

H̶̥͇̪̓e̶͎̝̽̓̓ͅ ̷̛͉̅̾͋̽ḧ̶͇͓̪̥́͛̈́͜a̶̢̜͂t̴͙͓̑͊̐͜ê̸̗͍̘̈́̍d̴̲͚̗́̌̈ͅ ̶̨͓͎̪̉̿̉̕ę̴͖̹̀͜v̵͔̼̑̓̚e̵͓̗̩̍̅́ͅṛ̸͛̐̒̍y̴̰͖͗̀t̴̨̡͊̔̊h̷̢̆̒̃̅͘i̸͚̲̥̗̠̾͒̀n̴̡̘̱̘̔̄g̴̛̘̀͗̔̕.

Well, almost everything. The one thing Salem couldn't hate, for some reason, was the world itself. He couldn't, no matter how much he tried, hate it. It was... too beautiful. Too pure. It was the one thing that didn't hate him. That didn't hurt him.

Only once a month was Salem freed from his torment. On this one day, he would be educated on everything he needed to know while also allowed to walk around the surroundings, monitored, of course.

The trees, the water, the flowers, everything was so... beautiful, so comforting. It was odd for a person to love the world so much. Still, living in a place with so much malice, so much pain, so much hatred, it was weird not to like something that didn't hate or torment you, even if that thing was an inanimate object.

Even though he loved the world, he was secretly jealous of it. Why was it allowed to be free when he wasn't? 'Wouldn't it be nice to be free like the wind?' Salem thought to himself as his amber eye stared at the sky from a hole in the ceiling.

But he couldn't. That wish was as far as the stars in the sky. He could never be free, for he was Salem, Evilus' experiment from the project "All the World's Evil."

Evilus, with all their vital members defeated and various gods defecting, decided to create their own god. A god not bound by the same laws of heaven. The one who would be the ultimate evil, scourge of all life, and plunge the world into endless chaos and strife.

Salem Crowley was just a normal boy abandoned by his parents when Evilus chose him as the test subject. His parents were average adventurers from Orario who thought they were too young for the responsibilities of taking care of a child. So, as a solution, they willingly abandoned their son at a nearby village.

Luckily enough, a kind young woman named Lucretia picked him up and decided to take care of him. After an accident, Lucretia could never have children, so when the opportunity arose to have one, she projected all her love and maternal instincts onto Salem.

'Lucretia...' Salem thought to himself longingly as he imagined seeing his mother in all but blood once again after years of constant torment. She was another thing other than the world he loved in his life.

Salem was five years old when Evilus kidnapped him. They did awful things to him. They tortured him. They opened him up, forced magic stones down his throat, made him eat live monsters to see what monster flesh does to a human, made him drink various concoctions, grafted different races' body parts into him, caused him immense pain, all the while keeping him conscious. He was never allowed to sleep. He hasn't slept in years with only magic making sure he didn't break.

Whenever they weren't doing their inhuman experiments on him, they allowed the various villagers to vent their grief upon him, sometimes even joining.

All of this was to create an evil god.

Evilus created a theory. With enough faith and belief, one may create a god or at least become a god. There's a reason why some gods are more powerful than others, why they announce when they descend into the mortal world, and why gods create their own Familia.

Sure, gods came down to live with the mortals, to break their boredom and experience excitement, but why did they create Familias? To make mortals stronger? Evilus discovered that the main reason as to why gods made Familias in the first place was for those gods to gain more power. The faith and love from the Familia members to their god increased said god's Arcanum. But with how little this increased was, many gods no longer cared. They instead created Familias to either show off, create a family, or other various reasons.

The real reason why Familias were created was forgotten over time, but Evilus had an idea. If faith and love didn't work, why can't they use other powerful emotions? Why not use stronger emotions such as hate and anger? With this in mind, Evilus began to use the villager's hate, resentment, and anger of their life to manipulate them into believing Salem was the personification of evil and the root of all their problems.

The villagers and other races tortured him. They beat him, they stabbed him, they burned him, they carved into his skin his sins, they abused him physically and mentally, they cured him, they hated him, they isolated him, ṯ̶̨̡̹̤̯̪̫͓̠̭̳̐̂̿͘h̴̨͇͓̲̹̻̦̤̱̄͜ȩ̴̳̗̥̲̝̣͖̟̻̓̌̓́̔̋͒͑̏̀́̍̚͜͜ͅy̷̛̖̪̻̞͇̼͈͇͕͕̫̠͓̫̐̍͑̈́̑͜͝ ̵̢̛m̴̢̱̻͓͔̋̏̒̑̿̓͂̅́͗͘͘ȕ̸̻͕͙͓̖̱̼̘̠̹̪̭̎t̵̮͇͚͉̹̘͈̠̞̪̾̇̌͒̈́͂į̵͚̞͙̳̭̲͐̌́͑̿̈́̍̍̆͆̂̉͘͜͜l̸̡͕͙͕̺͌̾͛̉͒͘͘͜ạ̷͙͓̼͔͍͖͖̣̃́͗͌̅̚̚t̴̯͖̳̭̄̋̈́̃͆́͌̄̄͝͝ȩ̵̪͕̱̥̩͖̤̫̤̜̹͙́̎́͘͠d̷̛̝̭̰̗̋͊̑ ̶̞͙̠̻̪̖͚̥̬̠̅̾̍̾́̾̚͠h̵͕̱̙̽̐̎̂̿̓͝ī̶̧̺̱̤̼̻̘͙̜̺̗̟͉͜m̵̭̜̞̟̯̩̖͉͙̙͍̓̐̅̃͗͒͆͊̈́͌͗͑̚͘͝.

'Why did it have to be me? I did nothing wrong. Why can't I be free?' Thought Salem. The torture for today was finally done, and everyone was in their houses, smiling and laughing while he was in the abandoned building alone, isolated like a person infected with the plague.

The moon shined down from the hole in the ceiling, spotlighting Salem's mutilated figure. He was missing an arm, a foot, and an eye. His skin was patchwork as different races and skin types were sewed onto his body. Various cursed words and depictions of destruction and evil carved into his skin; some were still bleeding. His hair was a pale brown, while his remaining eye was a dark amber. He was naked with only a tattered red waistcloth to cover up his decency.

Preventing him from escaping were chains on his arm and legs clamped with shackles to keep them in place. These chains and shackles had runes carved into them, allowing them to suck out Salem's magic and strength, making him weaker than a child.

Salem's thoughts were interrupted as he snapped his head at the doorway. A beautiful middle-aged woman walked with an unreadable expression; one hand was clenched, evidently holding something.

"L-Lucretia...?" Salem spoke in disbelief. His voice was hoarse from the neglect and constant agonizing wails forced out of his mouth. 'L-Lucretia... is that you?" His tone was having a hint of excitement. How could he not? His 'mother' finally found him after 11 years.

The woman remained silent, but the clenching of her jaw was a tale-tell sign that it wasn't what she was feeling on the inside. Lucretia began slowly walking towards Salem.

"Lucretia... p-please you have to help me!" Salem once again spoke, overlooking the odd behavior of his 'mother.' Salem tried to stand himself up, despite the chains and his body screaming in pain, "Tha-"

"Shut up," Lucretia said in a cold, commanding voice as she was within two feet of Salem. "How dare you!" She growled out as her body shook, which was entirely odd compared to her usual warm and loving voice she used when talking with Salem.

Salem, finally seeing her odd behavior, voiced out his confusing, "Mot-"

"I said, shut up!" She screeched while stabbing him in the leg, finally revealing what was clenched in her hand, "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" She continued to yell in a blind fury. Every word punctuated with a different part of his body being stabbed.

"AAAAAAAGGGRGGGHHHHh!" Salem screamed in pain. 'WHY! WHY! WHY! WHY! WHY! I thought she loved me!' he thought to himself in pain and confusion. Why was she stabbing him? What did he do? She loved him as her son; what changed in these 11 years?

"How dare you!" She screamed with tears cascading down her face, "Not only did you not allow me to have children, you also took my son away! You dare use his likeness as a way to manipulate me!" She said as she paused her stabbing, her hands on the knife still lodged in his chest. "I hate you!!"

I hate you!

I hate you!

I hate you...

Ĭ̵̛̟̺͐̃́̓̓̽̓̓͒́͛̐ ̵̣̘̗͕͓͙̖̙̻͈́͛̾͐̑̓̾͘͝͠h̷̞̀̀͆̂̓̐̀͂̅̚̕͝͝a̸͚̯͇̗͛̑̿̔̆̅t̸̢̗͍̘̯̱̞̯͉̊̉̀̈͌͜ḛ̸̡̝̀̌̓̽̿̔͗̓̍̋̎͌̕͝ ̴̡̢̖͕̺̫̜̞͙̥͈̯͇͗̐̽̊͐͌̒̂͂͜͜ẏ̶̛̱̝̘̖͔̱̪͙̀̄̃́̍̊̃͘͘͠o̷̡̤̬͓͙̣̜̲̼̦̫͋̀͌̆͊͒̊͐͑̎̆͘͝ư̷̢̥̻̮̩̤̙̘͈̑̆̀̐̀̈́́̐ͅ!̷̢̙͖̙̪͍̘̣̬͛͛

'oh... so she's like everyone else...' Salem thought to himself. One of the reasons he was able to hold on for so long in this constant torture was his faith and belief that Lucretia would still love him and help him.

He was wrong.

She was like everyone else. The gods, humans, elves, amazoness, demi-humans, and monsters. She hated him for no reason. She liked to cause him pain. She wanted to hear his agonizing screams.

He hated everyone else. He hated humans. He hated the elves. He hated the amazonesses. He hated the demi-humans. He hated the monsters.

H̸̢̙̮̫͎̯͙̬̹̯̩̬̾̄̚e̵̺͍̐̌̾̊̽͘͜͝ ̴̧̺͔͓̗̗̼̪̺̯̱͎̬̱̘̂͑̍͑́̉̊̍̈͒͒̂̚h̷̢̨̰̖̪͍̘̖̆̔̿͒̿̀̑͜͝ͅͅä̷͇̟͈̯́͐̔̂̈́̄́͆͂͝t̶̢̻͎̠͍̬̙̜͙̉̌͂̾̾̿̉̏̚ë̸̯̳̥́͒͐̈́̅̄̾̿̈́̊̔̂͝͝d̶̝̣̼͎͖͊͒̓̚͜͝͝ ̶͉͉̻̼͇̆͑̌̉͗͒̎͗͆̏͒̀̚͝ͅĻ̸̨̢̛̯̦̠̦͚͖̳̫͖̺͋͂̓̊̽̆́̊͋̋͘ͅü̴̡̡̱͈̼̦̫̦̖̭̙̳̼̺̠̒̈͂͝č̴̛͙͈̲͔̺̻̪̗̒̽̎̐͠r̶͕̦̣̮̟̹̭̝̬̗̀̃̋̂̍e̵t̶̛̞̏̅̋̎͂̆̓̒͊̇̄̕̚͠į̵̢̢͖̺͙̮͖̲a̵̩̤͍̩̬̫̖̩͍̹̽̚ͅ

To know that she hated him like everyone else... broke something inside of him. Like something was holding something back, but now it was... free.

He felt free.

He felt amazing.

"He... He... Heheh... HEheehEH.... HHEHEHEHAH HAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Salem threw his head back and laugh. It was a laugh so full of joy, overshadowed by the evil and madness within. His sudden laugh surprised and frightened Lucretia to the point where she backed up slowly.

Power began to fill him. It was free. This power was full of energy, so full of evil, so full of destruction, so full of corruption. He loved it. It made him feel complete. It fulfilled his wish. It made him feel free.

Suddenly, Salem's body began to transform. His originally dark red blood began to turn a murky black before thickening, becoming a black mud-like substance.

His skin, flesh, bones, and entire being began to melt, becoming one with the black mud all the while laughing in joy and insanity.

The mud began to surround the remaining pieces of Salem's body, becoming something like a horror-inspired cocoon.

The cocoon started beating like a heart, trumping with immense power and evil, scaring Lucretia, who was still frozen in shock and fear.

She couldn't move. She felt like some presence was paralyzing her in place, making it so she couldn't escape.

Suddenly, after 10 minutes, the cocoon cracked, and it erupted in black and red light.

All of the earth felt it. This large influx of power. It was like the world warped around it. It was almost as if the world tried to connect to it in joy but also shied away as if it got too close, it would die. All living beings, be it gods, humans, elves, and demi-humans, looked towards the source of power in trepidation and awe.

"A new god descending? Wait... no, it's different.." a female goddess sitting in an abandoned church said as she looked towards the source of power. Although she wasn't the best at sensing like Freya and Loki, she could practically feel her Arcanum feel revolted, like she was looking at an abomination, something that wasn't natural.

The cocoon cracked and broke apart, revealing the newly transformed Salem Crowley. His skin was no longer as pale as a corpse but instead was a dark brown, dark than some amazonesses. His curse word scars and depictions of evil were now tattoos covering his body, almost like it became a part of him. He now had two arms and two feet, but they were wrapped lightly in black bandages. His hair became a murky black color, while his eyes became a deep amber color. He still wore a tattered red waist cloth as the only form of clothing while still keeping the chains and shackles, but no longer connected to the wall, almost as a reminder that he was once a slave in all but name.

Salem looked at his hands in disbelief. Was he... free? He laughed insanely. He was free!

Salem looked up as he heard breathing. He was Lucretia, the mother he once loved before she betrayed him, looking at him in abject horror. It suddenly hit him. He was free; he could get revenge on everyone who harm him, who he hated.

An insane grin flashed on his face before instincts took over.

"Ḑ̴̙̓̂i̶̢̨̢͙͈̩͖͖̳̾͌̽̓̽̈́̀͗̆ͅẻ̶̛͈̈́͒̕.̷͍̣̔̎͝" Spoken as if it was the greatest sin, black tar-like mud came out of his mouth, dripping to his chin.

All of a sudden, Lucretia felt as if she was washed in a tsunami of sorrow and sadness. Overwhelming, overpowering, she felt the need to die to overcome it. She took the knife and slit her own throat, falling down like a marionette without strings.

"Not enough." Salem uttered as he watched his 'mother' bleed out on the ground, "not nearly enough"

Instincts took over once again. A new power eagerly awaiting to be called upon emerged.

"C̵̢̝̤̪̖̭̤̩̞̓̊̂̽̀̿̓̓̔ó̵̠̱͈̏͋ȓ̴͕̄͠͠r̸̢̖͚̠͕̺̠̺̙̈̃͋͑ȗ̵̯͌̇̄̔͊͛͗p̵̬̲̮̕͝t̷̡̨̲͖͙̳̼̮̿̎̈́̏̕i̵̘̠̪͛ó̶̱̥̄͂́̔̍n̵͙͙̞̿͋̓̑̍̈́ͅ " Black tar-like mud now emerged from his eyes, spilling from his tear ducts, almost as if he was crying. The black mud rose from the ground, engulfing and corrupting the town. Various cries of pain came from various places but Salem ignored them like they ignored his.

Soon it became deathly quiet, the mud was still there, covering and sucking the life out of everything, trying to corrupt all of creation.

Salem walked out of his abandoned house to look at his handy work.

'What should I do now?' Salem thought to himself, "How about going on an adventure? HEHehhHAHHAHA HAEHHAHA."

An evil, insane laughter spread throughout a village full of corpses and corruption.