62nd Adversary: World’s Beginning

In the Dragna empire, there were countless prisons and facilities built to keep lawbreakers under control. However, there was one place that was different from the rest. This place was made specially to house those deemed as a threat to the empire's existence and order. This place was called the Demon's Nest.

The Demon's Nest wasn't exactly located in the Dragna Empire. It was located inside a separate dimension. This dimension could be accessed by anyone that had a special key, otherwise, it was impossible for even an ordinary Higher Being to forcibly enter it. It was created by the Dragna Clan's male progenitor, Augustus Dragna. He was a human who climbed to godhood and was even strong enough to contest against the strongest of Higher Beings like Zeus. So to forcibly enter the prison you must be stronger than him, which only a few could declare they were with confidence.

The prison itself looked like any normal prison except for the lack of fences and walls. There were extremely intimidating guards. The prisoners spent most of their time locked in their cells with their cellmates or doing some productive activities. The only exceptions were those in solitary confinement. Solitary confinement was for those who were considered too dangerous to mingle with other prisoners. They were all charismatic and could easily influence other prisoners to act recklessly. They could also kill their cellmates or do other heinous acts to them. It was better that they were by themselves.

*Drip!*

In one of these dark cells, someone was hung up with shackles and chains around their limbs and ankles. They had spikes stabbed into their arms and legs to keep them nailed to the wall. There was a muzzle over their mouth and a helmet that blocked off their earring and sight. On their chest were several markings carved into their skin. These markings looked like ancient runes.

*Drip!*

Blood dripped from their wounds and hit the puddle of blood underneath them. This person was Miko. Currently, his five senses were cut off, his magic and Vita sealed off, and his limbs were pierced at their joints to prevent him from using his strength. Of course, he was unconscious as well.

"What's the point of healing me if they're just gonna do this to me?"

Miko mumbled. Inside the monochromic world of his soul he was sitting on a tombstone.

"They sure went all out."

The silhouette appeared next to him.

"Well, I heard this was mandatory for everyone in solitary confinement. They're not giving them the slightest chance to escape and interact with anybody. We're being treated as walking calamities."

"I wonder how long you'll be kept here?"

"Probably for a few months. I'm sure there'll be people who want me to rot in here forever, but my family will continue to push for my release. There's also the fact I'm Tia's proxy. They can't just lock me up, but they really need to consider a lot of things before giving me a trial."

"You seem so calm about this. I intended to make you anxious, but it's like you don't really care."

The silhouette frowned.

"I care, after all, it's my life we're talking about. It's just I can predict how everything will go. That's why I'm looking at the more distant future. What needs to be done after I'm free, and what steps do I need to take. I'm considering all this."

Miko looked up at the gray skies.

"I've already started making preparations, but I want to do something big. Something fitting of the one who inherited the Crime God's will."

He smiled.

"I want to play the most beautiful but violent requiem for him."

"Is it me or did you become more twisted?"

The silhouette seemed pleased.

"Actually, I think I've just matured a bit."

Miko looked at the silhouette.

"That's why I don't need you any longer."

He smirked.

"You're the personification of my doubts and the thoughts that I didn't want to face. While he's the personification of the monstrous part of myself that I feared. I decided to face everything and stop running away, as such you're no longer needed."

"How cold. I've always been here when you were troubled, and now you want to throw us away?"

"Yes."

The silhouette grinned.

"I expected no less from you."

The silhouette faded into mist and entered Miko's body. The tomb that the beast was locked away in also disappeared and entered Miko. His eyes shone a black light, before becoming calm again.

"You've learned to accept more parts of yourself."

A snake slithered out of the ground and stood in front of Miko. It was Samael, who was now almost 4ft tall.

"That's a sign of maturity. I'm proud, my son."

"I only have one father. Saying I have two is an insult to him."

"I was merely joking."

Samael laughed.

"I know."

Miko also smiled.

"Why is the great Satan here today?"

"Why? Did you forget I've still yet to explain everything to you? Now that you've dealt with your business and seem to have all the free time in the world isn't now the perfect time?"

"Hmm…..well, I am free. So why not.?"

Miko didn't get too excited about learning about the beginning of the world. It was as if he was going to hear a story told by a friend.

"You look uninterested, but whatever. Hmm…..let's start with the universe and the Supreme Being. But first, do you know of the world known as Earth?"

"Yeah. It's the world that mirrors ours, right? Apparently, all Higher Beings originated from there."

Samael nodded.

"Apparently, the two universes were originally one vast universe. It came into existence simultaneously with the Supreme Being. It was however a universe devoided of life. The Supreme Being was its sole inhabitant. However, over some time, that he himself couldn't calculate, life started to pop up one by one."

Miko listened with an interested face. This information was surely as important as it was shocking.

"Eventually the universe was filled with life. It was at this time the Supreme Being realized that it was lonely back then. He started to interact with the lifeforms, the Primordial Beings. He realized soon afterward that they were far inferior to himself, but he still enjoyed their company. He spent countless years observing the life forms, watching them evolve into intelligent beings."

Miko tried to imagine the period back then. When the universe was still in its infancy stage, yet to blossom.

"When the life forms gained intelligence, they began to worship the Supreme Being as their god, without considering what he thought about it. He just accepted their worship and kept watching over them. However, as time passed he realized that some of these lifeforms began to create their ideal beings and worship those Beings as their gods. Eventually, he found himself forgotten and no longer needed by a segment of those lifeforms."

"So Humans forgot their true god and erected new idols that fit their beliefs better. Sounds legit."

"Yeah. The Supreme Being wasn't angry at them though. Instead, he decided to compromise with those lifeforms in his own way."

"Wait. Did he…?"

Samael nodded.

"That's right. He divided the universe and placed them in separate dimensions, thus creating two universes. One with his believers and the other with those who no longer needed him."

"Damn. He literally cut them off. That's petty."

"He's a petty guy."

Samael added.

"The two universes are still linked because they were originally the same. However, the laws they were governed under were vastly different. That is why one has magic while one didn't. Also, the laws of time and space are different as well."

"You mean time flows differently?"

Samael nodded.

"But that isn't important. Let me continue."

He said.

"Anyway, the Supreme Being governed this world, Mundus, while the other one, Earth, was left to those life forms. However, he realized that the worlds heavily influenced each other despite being separated. The idols those life forms created started to appear in this world in the flesh."

"What? Are you saying that the ancient gods weren't created by the Supreme Being, but just manifested here out of nowhere?"

Samael nodded.

"The Supreme Being didn't understand it himself, but it seemed that those lifeforms had the ability to bring their idols to life with their faith. There were restrictions though. Those idols could only manifest in this world where magic and other strange powers existed."

"Well, that put a rest to the discussion of whether gods created us or we created the gods."

Miko muttered.

"I wouldn't say so. While it was human faith that caused those gods to manifest, once manifested those gods created humans as well."

"And you just reignited the argument."

Miko sighed.

"Anyway, gods began manifesting in this world one by one. Not only them, but demons, and other creatures of myth."

"I have a question. According to what you said, every Higher being here was created by the faith of humanity from Earth. But gods and religions tend to be forgotten in the passage of time for countless reasons. What happens to those beings who are forgotten in the next world, since faith brought them into existence and there's no longer any faith towards them?"

"Oh, that's simple."

Samael smiled.

"I erased them."

"?!"

Miko's eyes widened.

"Y-You erased them? Why?"

"To keep the balance. Forgotten gods are not needed in this world and no longer exist anywhere. Hence I erase them to perverse the balance."

Miko became silent. He had forgotten that Samael's name meant the venom of god for a reason. He persevered the order by doing things a benevolent being couldn't. If they were good, then there must be evil.

"Although, there's something wrong about the reasoning in your question. It's not that all gods were forgotten in the passage of time, some were forgotten because they no longer exist in this world."

"What?"

"I told you, didn't I? The worlds still heavily influenced each other. In other words, if a god is erased here, they would be erased in the other world over time."

"So there were gods you erased before they were forgotten, and as a result they were erased from existence in both worlds?"

"That's right. There were some brats who overstepped their boundaries and were punished. I also tried to slaughter every Higher Being to reset the world once before. As a result, many of them were erased. But, it's not like we always knew that erasing someone here would erase them in the other world. We found out by accident."

Samael explained.

"To test something out, the Supreme Being created a life for the first time. He created the world's first Phoenix. The Supreme Being then observed Earth and as he expected, the creature known as the Phoenix appeared and blended into their culture. This proved that the minds of the lifeforms on Earth were linked to this world. Whatever happened here would influence their minds in numerous ways. While their minds were able to manifest beings in this world."

"Damn, then in a way this is an imaginary world linked to the subconscious of the human race."

"If you want to look at it that way."

Samael smiled.

"Now, here's a question. How did I come to be? Was I also manifested by the faith of the people of Earth or was I created by the Supreme Being himself?"

"Neither. You said you were an irregular, which means you came to naturally exist in the world. In the first place, I doubt humans could even imagine something like death. You had to come into existence naturally like the Supreme Being."

"Correct! If I had hands I would applaud you."

Samael laughed.

"I came into the world naturally, however unlike the Supreme Being, I and my brother were considered the source of evil in both worlds. A benevolent being like the supreme being couldn't create us. But that doesn't mean that the Supreme Being didn't influence our existence in any way though. He also believes that my twin brother and I are the manifestations of wickedness that he lacked."

"Huh? You have a twin brother?"

"Yeah. Didn't I mention it before?"

"I don't think so."

"Well, earlier when I said I erased the forgotten gods, I didn't really erase all of them. Some were devoured by my brother, Devoro."

"Devoro?"

Samael nodded.

"Allow me to explain. I came into existence naturally like the Supreme Being, however, unlike the Supreme Being I wasn't born alone."

"You were born with a twin brother."

Samael nodded.

"I told you the Supreme Being believed that Devoro and I were born to make up for the maliciousness he lacked. Yet, I was described as both good and evil, so I alone couldn't carry out my duties. I needed a companion."

"That's where Devoro came in."

Samael nodded.

"The two of us who were born from the same entity, I who was pure darkness, corruption, and death, and Devoro who was Pure savagery, destruction, and mayhem; together we form the Ultimate Evil."

"Then Devoro's is as strong as you and the Supreme Being?"

"That's right. He's a true monster. Do you know the Beast of Revelations? The 666 monster from earth? That was inspired by Devoro."

"Well, fuck."

Miko could only curse when he heard that.

"And he was also an Irregular?"

"Yeah. We were the first Irregulars because we went against the laws of the universe back then. The Supreme Being isn't considered one, since he and the universe were born simultaneously. My Irregular Title is True Death, while Devoro's is True Monster. Our Irregularities are Infinite Death and Infinite Destruction respectively. I believe what kind of abilities they are, are self-explanatory."

"I see. But one question."

"What is it?"

Miko took a breath a said-

"Why should I believe anything you told me?"

Samael smiled.

"What, you don't trust me? Is that why you weren't interested in what I had to say?"

"Why would I? You're the greatest con man in history. I'll be a fool to take everything you say at face value. You may have been lying to me in a bid to manipulate me."

Samael burst out laughing.

"That's great. You're correct. You can't trust me. After all, I'm the one who damned this world for all eternity. There's a chance I might be looking to take something from you as well."

"I see. But I thank you, Samael. Not for the info dump, but thanks to you I realize that I'm just a speck in this vast universe."

"And you're thankful for knowing that?"

"Of course."

Miko showed a savage grin.

"Because this speck will soon devour this universe and become its ruler. Whether it's the Supreme Being, your brother, or you, I'll surpass you all one way or the other."

Samael's eyes widened. He soon burst out laughing.

"Very well, Young Satan (Adversary)! I acknowledge your challenge! Let's see if you can reach our level, but keep in mind that you have an eternity to go."

Miko showed a bright and innocent smile.

"I wouldn't want it any other way."