The Children of Zegandaria, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov [first color ebook reader txt] 📗

of things. If we stop our search - we die. It's that simple."

- "But what is the truth in Hell?," Hans hurriedly demanded to know.

- "Well, it's completely different for everybody," Agares answered him seriously. "I'd tell you as if for the last time. A life cannot be built on an unstable foundation. If you're good, be good, but if you're evil, it's your path that leads to downfall. The tricky part is exactly how committed you are to what you believe and where it will lead you."

- "Am I to understand that demons don't know that much stuff either," he asked his last question.

- "Exactly," the demon muttered, "but the biggest problem is the lack of consciousness in the first place. Not in consciousness itself in general. The existence of the soul also has its own laws."

The diffusion around them kept anyone from hearing their conversation - that was the most important thing.

- "Why then does suffering exist," Hans tried to argue.

- "Because otherwise there is no good," was the answer. "I would also add that there is no life - and none at that!"

THE PATH

 

"If the path ahead of you is clear, you are probably walking on someone else's."

Carl Jung

 

CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT: THE PATH

 

Hans rose quickly in the hierarchy and managed to achieve impressive things - he was one of the few who were successful in getting others to listen to them.

Only senior demons like Buer or Nergal had talent greater than his.

Hans didn't fool himself in his reasoning - he awaited his fate. Step by step, perhaps, he was sinking lower and lower, like a drowning man, but he knew that this was his way onward and downward. Had he already hit bottom, or was that bottom the top of a lower level?

The strange semblance of morality continued to fill his mind. This world was and remained Hell. And Hans was one of its inhabitants. For better or worse. Places still remained the same no matter where he would go. And this postponement of infinity only delayed his development.

The demons soon realized who they were dealing with, but it was too late - Valak was dead, and Agares valued his head. There had to be a solution to the problem.

Hans proved to be an excellent reformer and made quite a few changes to his new kingdom.

The demons were amazed at the insight with which he went about solving even the smallest problems.

This went on for some time. Once an old and experienced demon named Xaphan, whose tablet had protected Gabriel for some time before it was killed, asked him:

- What will you become next?

Hans found it difficult to answer the question thus put. There was something rotten in him-something unreal, to his understanding.

- "But I am a king!," he exclaimed.

- "Technically speaking," the demon sneered at him, slightly ironically. "That's perfectly true at the moment. But who are you and where are you going?"

- "Moral choices are extremely important. Not your title or wealth," the demon of corruption continued. "Here in Hell, almost all demons have fallen mainly because of their weaknesses. They didn't follow their true path."

- "So I have to find my own path?," Hans turned to him sadly.

- "Not quite," the demon supported him. "Rather, you must learn to live in a way that corresponds to your true path. Only then will you receive salvation, which may never, ever come anyway," he chuckled into his handfuls.

- "You'll get your justice only later," the demon sneered. "You can't get all the goodies at once."

Deep down, Hans groaned. He wondered if he had been wrong about everything so far. Things weren’t rosy - more than that, they were nightmarish. He figured the candidates for the hell throne didn't last too long - that was assuming they had a solid backing.

Hell was a strange and nasty place, designed for nasty and arrogant bastards who had achieved nothing in their lives. And Hans had risen to king - even here.

Agares had every interest in thwarting any coup attempt, no matter how brutal and unthinkably unlikely it was. That was the key to his own survival as well.

The First Duke of the East knew well how to be kind and moderate.

Every problem of the subjects was dealt with instantly and bureaucracy was kept to a minimum. This gave some impetus to life in the underground kingdom.

He was well aware that sooner or later the demons would start devouring each other and eventually, when only they were left, the underworld kingdom would End. Therefore, he was in no hurry to dole out indiscriminate and reckless punishments. He couldn't touch just like that lightly, or else he would cut his own branch and sink as well.

What the devils admired about Hans' wisdom was his incredible ability to get to the heart of the issues - it was a rare gift that deserved respect even here in Hell.

They came to him with all sorts of demands - some were too simple and ordinary, but others were too complex and required a very fine sense.

Hans allowed some sinners to be moved from the ninth circle of Hell to the eighth for good behavior. But there arose a controversy as to which pit to place them in. There were ten pits in that circle. In the third were crammed all kinds of sinners who traded in sacred objects. There they decided to place them.

The devils were delighted with this flexible solution. Every day Hans was showing some new side of his character, but he was actually digging his own grave.

He grew incredibly close to Agares, who became something of a second father to him and kept a close eye on his development. From him, Hans gained knowledge of ancient languages, as well as the few major dialects spoken in Ada. It took him too long to memorize the demonic symbols of all the more important and basic demons that were now under his power.

It was very difficult at times to judge where to put the new additions at all, as some were just about for all nine circles of Hell, which was unacceptable.

In time, Hans learned how to weigh his decisions and issue sentences on a case-by-case basis, rather than based on all the sins of the offEnder in question taken in aggregate.

THE CONFEDERACY

 

CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE: THE CONFEDERACY

 

This body greatly facilitated the government of the planet and left a tremendous amount of power in the hands of Om Gur Nal. So inconceivably great that it was almost frightening. But somewhere in the middle of this council in question, bringing together the previous governing bodies, was an indepEndEnt figure to keep an eye out for corrupt practices and so on. There was no avoiding the money moment.

It had also prompted the sovereign to start using the Fifth Level of Virtual Reality precisely to carry out some hidden transfers. It was right and wise. There was no getting around the kind of scrutiny that was slowly draining Om Gur Nal's powers and forcing him to guard himself on three fronts - in virtual reality, from Doctor Gad ‘Di Enn, and not least from the ex-officio Esaton himself[56] who was something of a judge of the morality of every official who sat on the Confederation's governing council.It was all cyberpunk here. Absolute underachievers in their mid-twenties or early twenties were running the whole ultra-large conurbation. They had graduated from the prestigious three-year super-intensive college course in administration at the Embodzan Academy and spoke three or four languages. Ibid. They were creating far more problems than they were solving. It was pretty cool. There were enough weird hits on the walls of Archison[57] - the main administrative building of the new super city-state.

Archison was the brainchild of Om Gur Nal, who was downright sick on the subject of cyberpunk. He wanted the whole fucking planet to live in this damned reality - for better, or worse.

Everything would fall into place, but it would take a long time - there was more.

Few could accept that boys and girls with no particular life, let alone management experience, were in charge of everyone's lives. But Om Gur Nal would not give a word of thought to the matter.

It was gradually made an ingrained management practice and little by little people stopped grumbling. But still, every now and then there was a disgruntled person who would simply voice his incompetent opinion. In the end it was a matter of internal conviction.

On the walls of the building in question there were rather strange images - some futuristic inquisition and traces of artwork mixed with cyberpunk elements.

Interestingly, there were painted wings of archaneanss with strange elements resembling the emblem of the Tarash Duk sect. Of course one could only guess at their meaning - some barely noticeable similarities as well.

The meetings passed in a leisurely atmosphere in the style of a college gathering, and somewhere in there came the so-called breaking point. Such brutal lust had to be knocked out somewhere. Not infrequently there were orgies between the rulers themselves. So normal was everything perceived that no one thought it was much of a problem as long as the work was going on.

Om Gur Nal's main requirement was that they all had to be orphans or taken straight off the street. This Ensured their loyalty, which was extremely important to the sovereign. He forgave them these small freedoms and they looked upon him as a father despite the small difference in their ages.

They had a saying - "Taken from the street, hired by Om Gur Nal."

The sorrow in their soul was immense and they lived in an eternal blue spring. So simple was it all.

In the distant future, many of the children did not even have the opportunity to have parents at all, and the chipping of their minds was further shaping their characters.

After a few years spent in the Archipelago, they had the considerable chance of becoming advisors to Om Gur Nal, and from then on it was up to them how far they would go. After a certain amount of time, they would disappear without a trace and their places would be taken by other naive people. And so on ad infinitum. Om Gur Nal was simply a genius in this regard.