The Children of Zegandaria - Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov (world best books to read txt) 📗

to connect the two realities - no one had done it, and it wasn't clear if he even could.

The demons had given him very little time to solve the technical issue - no more, no less.

No matter how much he racked his brain, the idea seemed childishly absurd.

Virtual reality had its own rules, and black holes obeyed laws of physics.

In the end, he reached a compromise solution.

It was easy to convince the demons to use Izod Sin, since the chapel there was a sort of time portal. The problem was how to trick them into entering the black hole, which was several parsecs away from the planetoid.

Demons weren’t fools, but they didn't understand physics either. Hans was going to take advantage of that.

When he started to draw his strange spins and equations, most people looked at him quizzically - it was damn fun and brutally dangerous to play with, but he knew what he was doing and he had to play his part well.

If he was convincing, he'd deal with these vile freaks once and for all.

- "So you're saying that black holes swallow everything," Valak muttered thoughtfully. "And us being demons, how will that affect our bodies?"

- "You're made of necroplasm - it's unlikely to have much effect on you," Auslander lied to him tightly.

Valak was no fool, but he knew that the portal between the two worlds might well swallow Hell itself. To some extent, they were in Hans' hands, not he in theirs.

- "I'm still not convinced," Valak persisted. "It seems extremely risky to me."

- "Your Grace," Hans began to work himself up, "don't be taken in by someone else's tales."

That other, of course, was Agares. But Hans, like a true politician, did not name him.

- "Don't forget about the protection of the chapter house. Its magical powers are immense," Hans went on, flatteringly and underhandedly.

Valak seemed to tie himself to this argument. He knew that all these years quite a few demons had been clamouring to seize his throne. He knew that the man harbored some great secrets, deeply ingrained in his subconscious, which they had tried to access more than once or twice. Yes - the demons had fears and lack of confidence too.

Hans could feel the inner struggle of the overlord. Somewhere in his own eyes, he needed to be sure that he was worthwhile and that there was a point to being here - even in a place like this.

He hadn't gotten that love we all need so badly. He needed to receive more.

And what is evil but twisted good?

THE BLACK HOLE

 

"Why have you come to torment us before?"

The demons to Jesus

 

CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN: THE BLACK HOLE

 

The demons had to be convinced before they rushed like a flock of sheep before a very unusual shepherd like Hans. He certainly wasn't going to gag them like the past.

The other thing he realised clearly was that once you had mastered someone or something's psyche, you had defeated them. That of course gave him the strength to live in this lower Hell where he had been for so long.

Many people didn't even think they could slip out of Hell, but Hans was a brain of Universal proportions - greater even than Liroth himself.

Auslander had always felt like an alien - wherever he went. That was his fucking problem, and he intended to solve it once and for all.

He wanted to survive, damn it, he wanted it with all his heart and soul. He could feel the tension among the demons - their rustling and sniffling. She could feel the pain in her heart, too.

He didn't meet his love on earth, and he didn't meet it in Hell.

It wasn't that there were no women in Hell-they might even have been more than men.

But Hans couldn't tear his eyes away from one who reminded him what it meant to truly live.

He had his own perspective on everything.

The demons didn't understand him, and so they feared him and the depth of his eyes.

Hans was so alone - even in Hell.

He didn't pay attention to the other demons and the fact that he didn't care annoyed them further.

- "You'll get into real life someday," they roared. "Then you'll see what it's like. What's the next thing you want to know?"

The young man remained silent, knowing that real life meant something different to everyone.

His eyes were filled with sadness because he knew he was not like the others. It weighed on him.

- "You're not going to go over the norm, are you, boy?," a third added. "You're getting too much of a hard-on, too much. Ya, more alive! This is Hell after all! You're not on a trip."

Hans was just sick and tired of these stupid, mercantile demons who wouldn't even step out of their own circle and see exactly what was going on around here. Maybe it was colder outside Hell, but for others, here was the perfect place.

Valak was now looking at his assistant with slightly different eyes. It wasn't that he didn't have a mind - he did, but he could use this chance against the others and strengthen his power.

Hans knew that the demon drew his power from a special source that he guarded like the apple of his eye. It was the wellspring of his life. And he could perish if the connection to it was severed.

Valak realized that Hans was much smarter - a truly brutal psychopath, ready to bring down even the inferno.

The demon decided to explore how he had no real respect from the other freaks before now and what he was so hoping for.

He decided to squeeze out his secret with deception - it was the only way he could think of.

I have to get the secret out of him or he'll destroy me. Those eyes, those eyes - they know no mercy - the terrible demon spoke to himself, listening for anyone to get to his thoughts as he was left without his Emfusor to protect him.

- "This black hole plan seems like a trap," he continued, sweating and nervous. "So nasty and inevitable."

Hans would have laughed from the bottom of his heart if he could feel the reality. He would have screamed like a eunuch facing slaughter. He would have swung his fists furiously and scared all the wild demons in the place away. But he had to wait patiently and watch what would happen. He didn't know Valak's secret yet, but he firmly wouldn't give him the chance to learn his.

He imagined that Hell was like a multi-layered picture, where the more layers you peeled away, the more showed, and you could never get to the bottom of things.

So many words and so many empty promises, but this time Hans had seemed to believe that something might happen. He had a chance to at least stick his nose out of this hellish abyss and get the recognition he deserved.

Hans also remembered the moment before he committed that treacherous act and stepped into the abyss of the black hole. Now he intended to send the demons there themselves. He wanted them to see and feel a moment before they evaporated what it really meant to have no control over things.

Death awaited them. And he was their shepherd!

He'd heard things were different with death in Hell, but he'd never seen a demon die with his own eyes. He couldn't imagine what it cost his soul.

Hans knew that only God determined the time of death, but lately a lot of things had been turning around before his eyes.

He had to work with Valak at all costs and determine exactly what was going to happen next.

- What was the difference between a demon soul and a human soul, he wondered.

Understanding how much souls were worth was important - because they were the currency of Hell. Demons even traded the souls of their fellows with each other.

There was a huge hell market where the value of souls was known very precisely and anyone could shop at will.

This was a unique opportunity, and there was no shortage of buyers.

Hans didn't want to rely solely on Valak's empty promises, because he had to achieve something with his own efforts.

The marketplace was one of the strangest places he had ever been.

Death was literally roaming around.

THE INFERNAL MARKET OF NAVUR DON

 

CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT: THE INFERNAL MARKET OF NAVUR DON

 

Hans was hanging around this whole fucked up place. All kinds of devils, demons, devils and whatnot could be seen here! They were too many. Appearance didn't determine the rank of a demon for the simple reason that somewhere deep within them, there was still a latent hatred for all things holy. This was their world, where their rules applied.

Hans had been brought in by one of the old demons, Pruflas[47]. He rode a bear and had the head of an owl, but Hans was used to all sorts of oddities in this realm of affliction.

- "Don't tell exactly what you know!," he advised him. "Demons don't like that. And this simplicity about the black hole was getting her. Yes, we're so self-absorbed that he didn't feel life slowly slipping away. And, as you've noticed yourself, time doesn't flow the same way in Hell as it does on your planet Zegandaria. But that doesn't mean we don't die, too. It is the same everywhere."

- "Where does your soul go afterwards?," Hans wondered.

- "That is one of the great mysteries," the demon gave himself importance. "I'll leave you to find it out for yourself. But, since you're really sympathetic to me, I'll warn you. Demons have a great sadness. It is in their doom. In other words, no matter what they do, there is no salvation for them."

Hans fell silent, beginning to realize what was happening. He was absorbed in learning how Hell worked.

The marketplace itself was of impressive size. But nothing in his soul was at ease. It was aware of the hellish carousel that defined his life. It was so doomed. It knew the trite maxim "Hell is a state of the soul!"

Trade was going full steam. And the infernal currEncy was not to be overlooked - it was the emanation of all the foul and base creatures inhabiting that accursed place. So firmly anchored was the whole curse of this deep abyss.

- "Demons don't like dealing with petty and unimportant things," Pruflas continued cryptically. "They want to go down in history with great deeds!"

- "What if they fail?," asked Auslander naively.

- "Well, frankly," his companion began to grumble, "that's not