Ascension II, THE ONE ABOVE ALL?

The air crackled with anticipation as Genesis stood at the center of the intricate alchemical sigil surrounding the contraption, its lines pulsing with otherworldly energy.

The contraption towered before him, a marvel of eldritch engineering that hummed with barely contained power.

As he raised his hands, now wreathed in shadows that seemed to devour light itself, the very fabric of reality began to warp and bend.

"Now," Genesis intoned, his voice a chorus of a thousand damned souls, "the moment of ascension!"

With a gesture that seemed to tear at the seams of existence, Genesis activated both sigil and contraption simultaneously.

The effect was immediate and catastrophic.

A shockwave of pure, unfiltered cosmic energy exploded outward, shattering windows and shaking the very foundations of the mansion.

As the initial surge subsided, a new horror began to unfold.

From every corner of the island, ethereal wisps of light began to converge on Genesis' location.

These were the souls of the living - tourists, residents, and Abyssal gift holders alike - all drawn inexorably towards the vortex of power Genesis had become.

Jezebel, watching from the edge of the ritual space, gasped in awe and terror as the souls swirled around Genesis like a macabre tornado. "My lord," she breathed, her voice barely audible over the howling winds of the soul storm, "it's... beautiful."

Genesis stood unflinching at the eye of this metaphysical maelstrom, his arms spread wide as if to embrace the incoming tide of souls.

As each spectral essence made contact with his form, it was absorbed, integrated, transformed.

The process was agonizing, ecstatic, transcendent - a union of the profane and the divine that defied mortal comprehension.

Hours seemed to pass in the span of moments as Genesis underwent his second ascension. His physical form flickered and shifted, sometimes appearing as a being of pure light, other times as a writhing mass of shadow and flame. The air around him grew heavy with the scent of ozone and brimstone, reality itself straining under the weight of the power being channeled.

Finally, as the last soul was consumed, a blinding flash of light erupted from Genesis' form. When it faded, he stood transformed.

His body seemed to glow from within, pulsing with an inner radiance that spoke of power beyond mortal reckoning.

His eyes, once merely burning with inner fire, now contained entire galaxies - windows into the infinite expanse of his newfound cosmic awareness.

Genesis flexed his fingers, marveling at the sensation of raw, unadulterated power coursing through his veins.

He could feel the essence of every soul he had consumed, their knowledge, their experiences, their very beings now a part of him.

He had become a living Philosopher's Stone, a nexus of alchemical perfection and cosmic horror.

Turning his gaze to the spectral forms of Cain and Abel, who had borne witness to his transformation, Genesis spoke.

His voice, though soft, seemed to resonate on multiple planes of existence simultaneously.

"My faithful shades," he began, a smile playing across lips that now seemed carved from living starlight, "you have served me well.

But now, I have a greater purpose for you - one that requires you to transcend your current state of being."

Cain tilted his ethereal head, curiosity evident in his ghostly features. "What do you mean, master?

How can we be of further use to you in your ascended state?"

Genesis' smile widened, revealing teeth that gleamed like polished white titanium. "I intend to exorcise you, my dear Cain and Abel.

But fear not - this is not an end, but a new beginning.

I need you to journey to Purgatorio, to act as my eyes and ears in that liminal realm."

Abel's spectral form shimmered with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. "Purgatorio? But master, how will we communicate with you once we've passed beyond the veil?"

"Ah, that's where things get interesting," Genesis replied, a glimmer of mischief in his cosmic eyes. "I shall contact you through seances, bending the barriers between worlds to my will. You will be my agents in the afterlife, gathering intelligence crucial to our grand design."

The ghostly brothers exchanged glances, a silent communication born of millennia of shared existence.

After a moment, Cain spoke for them both. "We accept this task, master.

We shall be your eyes and ears in Purgatorio, awaiting your call."

With a nod of acknowledgment, Genesis began the exorcism ritual.

His hands moved in complex patterns, tracing sigils in the air that burned with eldritch fire. As he chanted in a language that predated human civilization, Cain and Abel's forms began to shimmer and fade.

"Farewell, my faithful servants," Genesis intoned as the brothers' essence began to dissipate. "Until we meet again in the realms beyond."

With a final flash of otherworldly light, Cain and Abel vanished, their spirits finally free to move on to the next phase of existence.

Genesis allowed himself a moment of quiet reflection before turning his attention to the next item on his cosmic agenda.

"Now," he mused aloud, his voice carrying an undercurrent of anticipation, "let's prepare a little surprise for our demonic friends, shall we?"

Over the next several hours, Genesis wove an intricate tapestry of illusion and deception. Using his newfound powers, he created a Chronos imprint - a false narrative etched into the very fabric of time and space.

To any who would come investigating, it would appear as though Beelzebub and the other princes of Hell had attacked the island, stealing souls and the contraption alike.

As he put the finishing touches on his grand deception, Jezebel approached, her eyes wide with curiosity and awe. "My lord," she began, her voice trembling slightly in the presence of his radiant power, "what is this strange matter you're using to craft your illusion?"

Genesis turned to her, a smile playing across his lips. "Ah, my dear Jezebel. Your curiosity is as sharp as ever. What you're seeing is something truly extraordinary - Quark-gluon plasma, the first matter to exist when the Big Bang - or as some might call it, the great destruction - was occurring."

Jezebel's brow furrowed in confusion. "But what does this have to do with our demonic adversaries?"

Genesis' eyes gleamed with the light of forbidden knowledge as he launched into his explanation. "You see, when I was delving into the lore of the primordial council of demons, I noticed a fascinating correlation.

These beings seemed to have been created right at the moment of the Big Bang - the cosmic destruction that birthed our universe."

He began to pace, his movements leaving trails of starlight in his wake. "Now, nature has a tendency to create balance systems.

For every strength, there is an inherent weakness.

It struck me that the weakness of these primordial demons might be tied to the very first matter created in that initial destruction."

Jezebel nodded slowly, beginning to follow his line of reasoning. "So this Quark-gluon plasma..."

"Exactly," Genesis continued, his voice filled with excitement. "In scientific terms, it's Quark-gluon plasma. But in alchemical or mythological terms, we might call it the Primordial Flames or the First Fire.

It's the perfect weapon against beings born from the chaos of creation itself."

Jezebel's eyes widened in understanding. "That's brilliant, my lord! But... where did you find such a substance?

Surely it doesn't exist naturally in our world?"

Genesis' laughter echoed through the chamber, a sound that seemed to resonate on multiple planes of reality simultaneously. "Oh, my dear Jezebel, you underestimate the reach of my newfound powers.

After my ascension, I used Lucifer's abilities to teleport myself to The Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland."

His grin turned positively wicked as he continued. "Let's just say I 'borrowed' some of their Quark-gluon plasma.

A little invocation of In Nomine Diablo, and the scientists there were more than happy to create an ample supply for my personal use."

Jezebel gasped, both impressed and slightly terrified by the casual display of cosmic power. "You're truly magnificent, my lord.

But what now?

What's our next move?"

Genesis' expression grew serious, his eyes burning with purpose. "Now, my faithful Jezebel, we must depart.

Our work here is done, and greater challenges await us."

With a gesture, he summoned two cigarettes, offering one to Jezebel.

As they stood outside the mansion, Genesis snapped his fingers, conjuring a flame that danced and writhed with otherworldly energy.

Using his index finger, he lit both cigarettes with a casual grace that belied the cosmic power at his command.

Taking a long drag, Genesis savored the acrid taste of the smoke.

Then, with a flick of his wrist, he sent the flame from his fingertip arcing towards the mansion.

The moment it made contact, the entire structure erupted in black flames that seemed to devour light itself.

Jezebel watched in awe as the mansion was reduced to ash in mere seconds. "The black flames," she whispered, her voice filled with reverence. "So this is the true power of Lucifer..."

Genesis nodded, a satisfied smile playing across his lips. "Indeed.

And with the power of 800 souls added to Lucifer's might, I have become something beyond even the Morningstar himself.

Perhaps," he mused, his voice taking on a tone of cosmic amusement,

"I am now THE ONE ABOVE ALL."

As the last embers of the mansion flickered out, leaving behind nothing but a scorched patch of earth, Genesis turned to Jezebel.

His eyes blazed with purpose, entire galaxies swirling in their depths.

"Come, my dear," he said, extending a hand wreathed in shadow and starlight. "Our next destination awaits."

Jezebel took his hand without hesitation, her faith in her master absolute. "Where are we going, my lord?"

Genesis' smile was terrible and beautiful to behold, a promise of chaos and transformation yet to come. "To the very heart of our opposition, my faithful servant. We're going to pay a little visit to THE VATICAN!"

With those words, reality itself seemed to bend and warp around them.

In a flash of cosmic energy, Genesis and Jezebel vanished, leaving behind a island forever changed by their presence.

As they hurtled through the spaces between spaces, Genesis' mind raced with plans within plans.

The trap for the demons was set, Cain and Abel were positioned in Purgatorio, and now they were en route to the seat of earthly divine power.

Each move in his cosmic chess game was falling into place with perfect precision.

The Vatican, with all its secrets and holy relics, would be the next piece to fall before his unstoppable ascension.

And beyond that... well, the very foundations of reality itself trembled at the possibilities.

Genesis, once a mere mortal dabbling in forces beyond his comprehension, had become something new, something terrible and glorious.

A being of pure potential, unfettered by the laws of gods or men.

As he and Jezebel materialized in the shadow of St. Peter's Basilica, the air itself seemed to recoil from his presence.

A new chapter in the cosmic war was about to begin, and Genesis intended to write it in letters of fire across the very face of creation.

The Philosopher's Stone had been forged, the power of Lucifer claimed, and now... now it was time to challenge the essence of Holiness itself.

As the first rays of dawn broke over the eternal city, Genesis took a moment to savor the irony of his arrival.

Here, in the heart of Christendom, the seeds of its destruction were about to be sown.

He turned to Jezebel, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.

"Are you ready, my dear?" he asked, his voice resonating with barely contained power. "Today, we begin the next phase of our grand design.

Today, we bring chaos to the very doorstep of the divine."

Jezebel nodded, her own eyes shining with fanatical devotion. "I am ready, my lord.

Lead, and I shall follow, even unto the gates of Heaven itself."

The next move in this cosmic chess match promised to be his most audacious yet. And he, the self-proclaimed ONE ABOVE ALL, was more than ready to play.

The stage was set, the actors in place.

Let the next act of this grand cosmic drama begin.