The sight was stunning. From the unfathomable depths of the heavens, thousands of meteorites fell to Earth at incredible speed, wreaking immense devastation on the still-virgin planet. Along with the meteorites, with equal force, fell fallen angels. Twisted in pain, severely burned, they fell onto their curse and new home, Earth, presenting an incredibly grotesque image of their own defeat. On the planet, shrouded in ash and devastation, some of them, in spasms of cruel agony, breathed their last angelic breaths. Those who survived sobbed like defenseless children, carried by the pain and awareness of their own defeat. With one exception. From the hill that would one day be called Arrart, with eyes filled with both sadness and astonishment, Lucifer, their leader and guardian, watched the gruesome spectacle of his companions' defeat. This was not to be! In his carefully crafted plan to overthrow the Despot sitting on the heavenly throne, he had not foreseen that he himself would be betrayed at the moment when triumph seemed certain. At the moment when he and his companions were destroying the last bastion of the Lord's supporters, when it seemed that the moment when they would assume power was less than a second away, Gabriel broke his previously given word. Although Lucifer, along with Belial and Bast, had three times extracted from him his word that in the event of war with the Lord, he would restrain his Angelic Legions and remain neutral, he reneged. Seduced by some deceptive divine promise, he humbled himself before him and, with his Legions, with great fury, attacked the rebels. What happened when the Legions entered the arena of conflict could be called a disgraceful defeat for the rebels. Although perhaps a more appropriate word would be a catastrophe. Led by Gabriel, the Legions severely decimated the rebels' ranks, forcing them to surrender unconditionally. However, no better fate awaited those who survived. The Lord's wrath was fierce. He cast the mutilated, degraded, and filthy rebels down to Earth in a rain of living fire, into the depths of the planet they hated—one of the many reasons for the outbreak of the rebellion. Aware of his defeat, Lucifer cast one last furious glance at the sky and moved toward his comrades. Then he sensed the presence of an uninvited guest. Driven by curiosity, he immediately teleported to the spot where he sensed the intruder. A powerfully built, red-haired angel appeared before his astonished eyes.
"The scale of this defeat is impressive, oh Lucifer," the red-haired angel addressed the rebel leader with a hint of mockery in his voice.
It took a moment for Lucifer to contain his surprise and whisper:
"Azraziel—before him stood the semi-legendary figure of the first heavenly outlaw, the angel who first disobeyed the Lord, calling Him ignorant, and then, in very mysterious, rumor-ridden circumstances, killed one of Lord Kalial's favorites.
"So you live, O Azraziel Shadowline. I see that the rumors of your annihilation by the Creator were untrue after all, O Great Rebel," Lucifer said in a voice full of irony.
The very first exchange between them clearly indicated that the two angels disliked each other.
"Good, old Lucifer," Azraziel said, then laughed. "I see that despite eons of years, you haven't changed a jot. You're still a fool!"
"Your wit, my friend, has sharpened," replied Lucifer, suddenly materializing in his hands a huge ball of fire, which he threw with great force towards his adversary.
Clearly prepared for such an eventuality, Azraziel leaped high into the air, hovering in mid-air and thus avoiding the devastating impact. The rock he was sitting on shattered into millions of pieces.
"Calm down, Lucifer," replied Azraziel with great calm in his voice, trying to end the skirmish with a conciliatory gesture. "I didn't come here to fight you, but to talk.
" "Then I'm listening, Azraziel," replied Lucifer, and released his fighting stance.
"So you see, Lucifer, like you, I am currently on a planet that will soon become the field of Pan's experiments—experiments that, I admit, arouse my interest." I know that you and your entourage will do everything to destroy them and incite the Creator's wrath. Wrath that will escalate into war, a war you will surely lose, ending as a handful of stardust. I must admit it's a tempting prospect, although the war could last eons, and I'm tired of waiting." He paused, then spoke again.
"So, I have come to ask you to be the Lightbringer, so that at least in the initial phase of the Creator's experiments you don't irritate Him too much.
" "Ask me? Lucifer is insensitive to the requests of the arrogant," the leader of the rebellion replied angrily.
"Well, I expected a similar reaction from you, First After God," Azraziel replied, irritation evident in his voice.
"I expected this, which is why I have an offer you can't refuse." As I've already told you, in the war against Pan, you are doomed. God himself is incredibly powerful, and then there are Gabriel's Legions, and Chaos will certainly cast out new angels, Pan's followers, from its Gates. As you can see, it doesn't look too good. I'd say tragic. But I have something that could tip the scales in your favor, Azraziel said with a bitter smile.
"I'm all ears," Lucifer replied.
"As you probably remember, shortly before, um, let's call it, my exile, I was working on the Chaos mineral, ocoltite. I was particularly fascinated by its effect on our angelic brains. Lacking guinea pigs, I experimented mainly on myself. I admit, with rather mediocre results. However, one time, God sent me and Amin to observe the Gates of Chaos. Disturbing things were happening there. Ocoltite was flying out of the Gates in alarming quantities. It turned out the Gates were somewhat damaged. I decided to repair it. As you probably know, Amin, Gabriel's first sword, isn't exactly a bright one. In his utter stupidity, he positioned himself right in front of the Gates of Chaos just as ocoltite was shooting out of them." Miraculously, he survived, but remained unconscious for a long time. I, for my part, took advantage of this moment very eagerly, placing an occult device of my own design in his brain.
"You speak interestingly, Azraziel, so I will continue listening," said Lucifer.
A green occult ring suddenly materialized in Azraziel's hands.
"You see, Lucifer, every time I put on this ring, I see with my eyes and hear with my ears Amin. I suppose I don't have to explain to you how beneficial it would be, from your point of view, to have a spy in the Kingdom of Heaven.
" "What, what do you demand for this ring?" asked Lucifer, excitement evident in his voice.
"As I mentioned, I want you not to interfere too much with God's experiments, at least in their initial stages. Do you understand?!
" "You have my word on that!" replied Lucifer.
"And one more thing, may it never occur to you or your companions to look for me! When I need you, I will find you myself. For today, I consider our conversation binding." With these words, Azraziel vanished in an instant. Where he had stood moments before, only a green occult ring remained.
Overwhelmed by the sight of it, Lucifer picked it up and placed it on his finger. The moment he did, a horrific vision gripped his mind. He saw himself triumphant on the heavenly throne, and a holocaust bathed in fire and blood, the angels who had previously sided with the Creator. He finally saw something that deeply intoxicated his senses: the corpse of the Creator lying on Earth, mourned by those yet to rise, by humans. For a moment, a grotesque smile graced his face. He removed the ring from his finger and turned toward his companions in misery. To a place that was soon to become Hell.
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