When I opened my eyes, I was flying - wait. Flying? I glanced back to realize I had a pair of bat wings. I was flying across a river, and I was shocked to see that I had grown a pair of horns as well. My skin was a tinted white, and my veins were black.

What the hell happened-

THOOM!

An enormous explosion sent me rocketing off to the left. I thudded into a barren mountain. Groaning, I pushed out of the demon shaped indent in stone.

I looked around to see a land of black stone, and red sky. Thunder rolled after blood-red flashes of lightning.

The wind that swept by was hot and smelled of rot. Spouts of lava came out of the earth every so often.

WELCOME. KNEEL BEFORE THE DEVIL TO KILL THE GOD.

I was suddenly drawn up by an unknown force and thrust before an enormous statue of a monstrous creature. Bat wings. Curling horns. A long, sinewy, barbed tail. Scales, and pitch black skin. His face was curled up in a perpetual snarl.

The same force that forced me before the statue also tried to force me to kneel. I resisted.

“Where am I?”

KNEEL, AND YOU WILL GAIN UNLIMITED POWER…

The same voice rang out again. I struggled against it.

“I refuse!”

The force redoubled. Cursing, I staggered to my feet and locked my knees. I struggled against the invisible force for what seemed like an infinite amount of time. Beads of sweat trailed new rivers and tributaries down my face. My new horns actually began to crack. My legs felt like they were on fire.

Finally, the pressure lifted. I gave a breath of relief.

“Ah!” Suddenly, an enormous pain exploded out of my right side. I clutched at the wound, and my fingers closed around a cold metal needle.

I ripped it out of my side and glared around to see who had launched it at me. Suddenly, there was another flash of steel, and before I knew it, there was a needle pointed right at my heart.

KNEEL. OR DIE.

I froze. The needle slowly floated closer and closer. I was really regretting my decision to open the scroll. I shook my head. That was the deal. A fair trade. And a man keeps his word.

“No.”

I would not kneel. I felt a familiar rush of emotion. I had felt this before. Each time that I had faced imminent death. Each time that I had faced helpless danger, I had felt this emotion. This same feeling of rage. Of hatred against the world.

And of determination to destroy everything. Refusal to back down. Even if it meant taking everything with me.

KNEEL!

The voice commanded me to kneel again, and the needle actually sank into my chest. I yelled in pain. When I had caught my breath again. I close my hand over the needle, and grinned.

“No! I’ll take you with me…”

Suddenly, the needle disappeared. I clutched at thin air.

Detected compatibility. Host has enough negative emotion and rebelliousness to fulfill requirements. Now implanting Divine Devil’s Seventy Two Commandments…

The landscape faded before me, and was replaced with another.

I was sitting in what seemed to be a temple lit with flickering blue flames. The temple was of dark wood, rotting and half-crumbling. I stood up to see that I was on a large stone planted in a pool of murky water. Around me, there were various piles of human bones on platforms. Some platforms were empty, and nearly all of them had a very thin layer of bones on them. Suddenly, the one closest to me lit up, and the bones rose and began to spin. They glowed and ethereal blue, growing brighter and brighter until the light became dazzling.

Finally it dimmed. The platform of bones had gone from a simple pile of bones…to a pillar of bones that stretched to the top of the temple.

A strange rune suddenly separated itself from that first pillar and flew at me. It touched my forehead. It gave off a quick flash of light before it disappeared.

I touched my forehead.

Nothing.

What had just happened? What was that scroll?