Sam-Yigh regained his consciousness. He immediately jumped up on his feet in terror and surveyed the surroundings. It was eerily quiet. It took him a few seconds to collect his thoughts. The archangel has encountered something so scary and oppressive that every time he remembered a shudder would run down his entire body. It was scary and dangerous, but somehow it was also… very attractive. As if along with the pressure, the very image of that little monster wormed its way inside his brain, unwilling to get out and slowly taking him over. And he didn’t want to put up much resistance either…

Sam-Yigh has thought himself to be a mere servant, no, a slave, to his great master, god Werben. He never had a distinct sense of self in the first place, so fighting against this new image, new idea was not something he wanted to do as it showed him new horizons. That monster, that being has completely and utterly destroyed any and all attachments Sam-Yigh had for his previous master and way of life, Sam-Yigh found himself contemplating a new idea that popped inside his head, it was… Freedom. And longing. He began thinking in cycles, eventually returning to the desire to once again witness the might he has seen, the greatness that completely overturned his little world. Slowly, the archangel’s mind turned twisted and completely filled with the desire for freedom and longing for that being.

After a while, Sam noticed his old comrade and friend and a person he used to respect, Qu-Daoli. The old-looking archangel was still sprawled on the ground beneath the mountain, breathing heavily. Perhaps the other archangel was affected deeply by the experience as well. Not that Sam-Yigh cared. When he looked at the person he considered his senior and compared this pig-like creature to that being, the pretty face of the archangel showed a horrible scowl and disgust with rage filled his heart. He felt tricked, he felt that all of his life he was being lied to, fed useless and inherently wrong information and given pathetic ideas that held him back. Looking at the unsightly old man he used to respect so much Sam felt the rage inside him build up, he wanted all that has been taken from him back, all the years he has spent, every moment he wasted, all of it was stolen from him by the people like the old man that was shaking in fear while being unconscious!

And he would take it back! Sam-Yigh stretched his palm and pierced the chest of Qu-Daoli and felt a strange connection there. It gave the old man power and life but took his freedom, that’s how it felt. With horror, Sam tried to feel the connection inside himself and found it! But it was damaged and the archangel was free now. Free, but his life was also running out!

“As if I would accept iiiitttt!!!!”

Angry at whatever it was that played with his destiny and threw him aside like a broken toy, he began greedily devour whatever was left of life inside Qu-Daoli. He took the life of his old friend with no mercy or hesitation, completely absorbed in his greed for more!

Not long after Qu’s body began withering and turned into dust. Sam looked inside him again and felt that he had some life to him now, though it was very limited.

But now he wasn’t distressed as he knew what needed to be done in order to preserve his life!

He was now free! No more restrictions, no one would ever control him anymore! And it was all thanks to that being.

He looked at the Extererr mountain. On that mountain, he witnessed the truth, his truth and threw aside his shackles, on that mountain that opened a whole new world for him... The deep longing he held in his heart overtook him and before Sam noticed he was already on the mountain, close to the spot where his previous master was buried!

The memories emerged within him and Sam began shaking in fear. He was still afraid and it was natural, still, that fear was also sacred to Sam-Yigh now.

He was about to leave but there was a small ripple in space and through it, Sam felt a scary amount of energy that gave him life and he felt hungry to the point where he didn’t care for anything else but the hunger that took hold of him. Soon another ripple appeared and Sam without a second thought jumped there.

It was dark, but he could see somehow. The person who made the ripples, that hateful liar Werben, was very surprised to see Sam-Yigh. Of course, he wanted to exploit his former slave, but Sam would not allow that anymore. So, the archangel pretended to be obedient and kneeled. The ugly mass of muscles with a huge mace in his hand didn’t look majestic at all and Sam couldn’t help but wonder what made him feel such adoration for the tyrant.

Werben let his guard down and came closer to Sam-Yigh. The hunger inside the archangel was almost unbearable, but he knew he couldn’t be rash, lest he wanted to part with his life, so he waited for the right opportunity.

When the time was right Sam jumped towards Werben and began madly taking away all the power he could get. Naturally, Werben tried to retaliate but even when the body of Sam-Yigh was split apart it would return to its former state with the help of the power the archangel took. After a long struggle, the lump of muscles withered away and only the true body of Werben was left. It was a grey mask.

The struggle was over and Sam-Yigh was unexpectedly the winner. He took the mask and felt the same shackles that tied him and Qu-Daoli, only this time there were purer. He could clearly see the shackles and, even though he was disgusted by them, he kept staring.

Eventually, the archangel tore off his gaze from the mask. He grabbed the shackles and pulled on them, trying to get as much power as he could get from them, to take as much as he was taken from. He pulled and pulled and continued and he changed over time. Those changes didn’t show on the outside, but he became much different inside. He was reborn.

Qu-Daoli felt that change. He decided that it was a chance for him to start anew and maybe even reach that being someday… So he continued to take as much power as he could to have enough strength to reach his goals.

Whatever he was taking power from evidently didn’t like it as he felt strong resistance that only increased in strength until he could no longer take it and was expelled, far from the reach of the shackles. His body and mind were damaged, but his determination was still strong.

While being outside of the reach of the shackles he was able to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time, he felt like he was about to disappear, so he frantically fled.

His escape was successful. He ended up on some kind of shore. His body was torn and injured, he couldn’t understand what was going on around him and his wings just disappeared. There was not a trace of power he held before, he was just like a mortal.

But he was still alive! And that was all that mattered.

He closed his eyes, the Sun hurt him. The waves crashed into the shore and some water was splashed onto him, it was unpleasant. His mind drifted away for a moment…

He heard quick footsteps as if someone was running towards him. His guess was not incorrect.

A young girl, around twenty years of age, at least judging by her appearance, with chestnut-coloured hair that was tied into a ponytail, in dirty cheap clothes ran up to him.

“Hey, mister, are you okay?”

“What do you think?” He wanted to retort but held himself back. The little mortal showed concern for him and it wasn’t right to answer to her like this.

“Mister, you need help, I’ll call for some, just you wait here!”

“Not that I can go anywhere. I'll wait, don't worry” He didn’t say it again.

“Ah! By the way, what’s your name, mister? You don’t look like you’re from around here.”

“Sa-“ He was going to use his old name, but the sound got stuck in his throat. That name was given to him when he was a slave and a slave he was no longer.

“Lucifer” ‘Light-bringer’ in the old tongue of a civilization that existed even before the Celestial city. A fitting name for one who has acquired the light of freedom and the light of hope. Hope to reach the heights he was shown.

“What a strange name. Mister is definitely not from here. I’m Mary by the way. Oh, right, help!”

The strange girl ran off somewhere.

The Sun began to set. Lucifer has probably slept too much.

And the curtain of the story of one who will later be known as “The Lord of Sin”, the high wizard Lucifer has risen.