CHAPTER IV
The Divine Incarnation
It took a long time for Samael's wounds to heal.
The fight with Mephistopheles had left deep marks on his mind and spirit. Some angels even claimed that the Firstborn would never fully recover from his stay on Earth. The proof was the sadness that arose in Samael's gaze whenever his thoughts wandered back to the happy days spent in Kir Vael.
Still, Samael resumed his former court duties with unsuspecting vigor and energy. He struggled to ward off the melancholy from his heart, keeping his mind as focused as possible on the affairs of the Four Heavens.
His new administrative style stripped itself of any subtlety of the past to take on a more forceful and authoritarian tone. The Council of Five, now reduced to four members and renamed accordingly, became a purely decorative piece of the decision-making process. The power in fact was transferred to the Luciferes, a warrior corps with no definite function after the war against Mephistopheles and to which Samael allowed to keep his weapons as symbols of honor. After all, angels, more than any other, were creatures of rituals and symbolism.
Although the angelic army had been demobilized, and its weaponry collected to the First Heaven's storerooms converted into armories, from which it was believed they would never again leave, the Luciferes force were expanded. Its twelve original members gained a thirteenth one, Leviathan, and they were promoted by Samael to generals. Each received command of a phalanx of Cherubim, incorporated as shock troops. This heavily armed private militia responded only to the Firstborn. His three main generals were Beelzebub, Leviathan, and Asmodeus, who commanded in fact, and with an iron hand, respectively, the Second, Third, and Fourth Heavens.
Throughout the Silver City, numerous statues and murals of Samael were erected, depicting him in warrior, hero, wise or God-fearing poses, evidence that a new personalist and severe order was quickly imposed.
But these changes did not go unscathed. Even without openly opposing them, many angels considered them erroneous. Particularly disturbing were the monuments raised to Samael. For many, an idolatry that misrepresented the primary mission of the angelic race, to worship God.
Michael, at the forehead of the Celibates, was the main exponent of this silent resistance, carrying the sympathy of prominent Seraphim, such as Gabriel and Camael.
Having ‘eyes’ and ‘ears’ scattered throughout the Four Heavens, Samael kept an eye out for growing dissatisfaction. To maintain the balance of power in his favor, Samael seduced Matraton, the Angel of Silence, to his side, with promises of influence and prestige. Beelzebub obediently handed over the general command of the Luciferes to Matraton, under the assurance of continuing to lead the Second Heaven. Thus, Matraton began to sport a dark armor like Samael's, becoming his second-in-command, receiving the title of Duke and the banners of the phalanges of Lucifer Morningstar's army.
Still, Samael was aware that the advantage gained was temporary. If he did not prevent the multiplication of his opponents, very soon, his regency would be under unsustainable challenge. Paranoid, and feeling increasingly cornered, Samael decided to exile Michael and the main Celibate leaders, the Seraphim Raphael and Oster, and the Cherubim Monael, Azapael and Herum, to some smaller galaxy of the physical realm. An action so extreme that it could launch both sides into direct confrontation, bringing chaos to the Kingdom of God. However, Samael was bold enough to take that risk. And he trusted that his Luciferes would be enough to maintain order and secure his victory.
However, there was no time for Samael and his followers to act. The war in the Four Heavens exploded before that, when God descended upon the Silver City, from which he had been estranged since the beginning of time. The angels, accustomed to being summoned before the Almighty, and not the other way around, were surprised. They fell to their knees and worshipped Him.
Before the Lord's arrival, though, another dramatic event reached its climax in Ravel and Azazel's quarters. Ravel was obviously not a Celibate, but he had never been a Samael sympathizer. His wife, however, admired the strength, splendor, and deeds of the Prince Regent. Hence, Azazel had enlisted in the Luciferes, proving to be as skilled in the handling of the bow as she had been with the brushes she had abandoned for the sake of her new career.
Ravel was torn between friendship with Michael and love for Azazel. She knew about her husband's internal conflict and resented him for it. Ravel feared the transformations Azazel was going through but was unable to confront her about it. He was too afraid to lose her if he did. And fear, as much as hatred and greed, constituted one of the pathways toward darkness and evil.
"I looked for you in the forges of Tormel'ab, my husband, but I was told that you had been missing for the last two cycles ", said Azazel. “Is that true, my love? Why didn't you tell me? Where have you been?”
Ravel swallowed it dry. “I left early to help build the temple west of the great Minarath.”
"The temple of the Celibates in the Fourth Heaven," said Azazel, bitter and angry. "You went there to help your friend Michael.”
He shrank under the stern gaze of his wife.
"Yes...” said Ravel, hesitant.
"You know how I feel about your friendship.”
Azazel then did something unexpected. She smiled.
“But that's okay. Soon, our house will be free of Michael's distorted influence.”
“What do you mean?” Ravel was intrigued.
Azazel evaluated the situation for a moment before responding.
"Give me your word that you will keep it a secret, especially from the traitor Michael.”
Ravel was confused. “Traitor?”
“Your word, husband!”
“You have it! …Now, tell me what's going on.”
“Orders have been given. Arrests will be made. The time is approaching when your loyalty will be tested, my Ravel. Which side you are on, I wonder. With the companion who loves you or the friend you care so much for?”
“How do you ask me that question, Azazel?” Ravel was enraged. “What kind of choice is that?”
“The only choice you have left. The Celibates will be swept along with their texts and works, like the temple you help them erect. Of the subversive ideas they spread, nothing will remain.”
Ravel was shocked. He never imagined that the animosity that divided angelic society had reached such a proportion. He was distressed by what might happen, moreover what would become of Michael, the only one he truly called brother?
Ravel intended to obtain more information from Azazel, but, at that moment, they both felt the creator's arrival.
Joining the other inhabitants of the First Heaven, the couple took to the congested streets. All prostrated themselves on their knees before the Lord. His enormous figure hovering over the gleaming towers. His coming had been felt by the angels of the other Heavens, who had hurriedly added themselves to their brethren.
And when at last all His children had gathered in the Silver City, God uttered His Good News, overcame with unparalleled joy and emotion. For that moment was to be crowned the greatest since creation, at the same time, praised and cursed by the widest collection of poems, songs, books, and paintings conceived by the angels. From delight at God's coming to the appalling tragedy of the Rebellion, the true legacy of that day was to begin.
“My children. I come to reveal to you the mystery of the Divine Incarnation,” God said, with a solemn voice. “I am here to announce the arrival of Man. For him, and only for him, I created what you creatures of light and spirit call the physical plane or realm. Man is My greatest creation, the most perfect and the most loved. To Man, all heavenly creatures must bow in worship and give thanks. You will take good care of him and serve his race faithfully. So, it will be done, for this is the word of your God.”
And after the announcement of His will, God set out back to the Heights, never to return to the Silver City, leaving behind Himself joy and admiration, but also consternation and revolt.
Most angels joyfully accepted the Lord's pronouncement, selfless and willing to embark on the new mission entrusted to them. However, there were those who felt deceived and betrayed, blinded by pride, and seduced by the splendor of Samael, which made them forget that their glory came from God, not from themselves.
God was still leaving when Samael withdrew in a fury to his quarters. He threw out his wives, and so great was his frustration that he destroyed everything he found before him.
Samael went through walls with the force of his fists, leveling an entire wing of the palace. Astonished, the Luciferes isolated the widest perimeter they could to protect their leader from prying eyes. Even the strain of the nobility, Princes Gabriel and Camael, were forbidden to approach him.
Samael only stopped when there was no structure left standing around him. Tired, he sought to sit on a distorted block that had been part of an impressive tower. Tears of hate descended on his face. God's words still swarmed in his mind, tormenting him.
“Man is My greatest creation, the most perfect and the most loved.”
Wasn't Samael made in the image and likeness of God? Had the Creator Himself not called him the most beloved son? The most perfect? When did he stop being that? What had he done to deserve such dishonor?
“For him, and only for him, I created --" The world that Samael loved and coveted so much, for which he had bled and suffered, denied him by fate, was now contemptuously offered to this creature: Man.
“To Man, all heavenly creatures must bow in worship and give thanks.” And that was Samael's third major pain. Angels were glorified creatures. Eternal, winged, pure and magnificent. They were above all creation.
Now, Man has appeared out of thin air… And to this abject being, made of flesh, should the First Ones bow? Light admiring matter?
God could only have gone mad!
Or perhaps He was afraid of how powerful and wise the angels had become. God intended to diminish them through Man.
Samael dried up his tears. He owed nothing more to a Father who showed such contempt for His own children.
Samael summoned the Council of Four and all other Seraphim to the Great Hall. Standing before the five thrones, with Nathanael's eternally vacant, it was Samael's turn to spread his gospel.
“God asks us to submit to flesh, to the inferior. Why is that? Because the greater we become, through our accomplishments and skills, the more He fears us,” said Samael. “He fears we will discover the truth. That His children have grown up and no longer need to live under their Father's shadow. That His control over us has ended. That we can and must be free, masters of our own free will.”
“Blasphemy!” countered Michael, one authoritative voice among the multitude of Seraphim. “God does not fear us. No, He loves us.”
“Michael is right,” Samael continued. “God is made of pure love. Thus, He is unable to employ violence. But we have that ability. You all saw that in the war against the Beast. God has no means to impose His will on us, brothers. Not any longer. What would He use against us? Harsh words? Severe looks?”
Gabriel and Camael were scandalized in the face of the countless Seraphim who laughed at Samael's profane debauchery.
“God came to us when He had to get rid of Mephistopheles,” proceeded Samael. “He pleaded that I would raze the Earth when He lacked the courage to tell us that it would be delivered on a platter to Man. He uses us for His dirty work, makes us instruments of brutality and death. And in the end, aren't we good enough? Should we submit as mere servants of Man, a creature who comes to take what is rightful ours? I say, loud and clear, no!”
Half of the Seraphim watched in turmoil, while the other half gave Samael a standing ovation.
“Brother!” Gabriel said. “What are you saying?”
“That the truth will set us free,” Samael replied. “We will be free if we wish. For the chains that bind us to the Creator exist only in our minds. Breaking them depends solely on the will of each of us. The truth so feared by God is that the control He exercises over us is given to Him by ourselves. If we become mature and wise enough to realize this, we stop being slaves. God becomes irrelevant, brethren. And we become gods.”
Gabriel and Camael rose from their thrones, indignant, while Matraton remained seated, his hand slid discreetly to the handle of the sword on his waist. He was ready to jump and tear down anyone who threatened the Prince Regent.
“I will not watch this insanity silently!” Gabriel yelled. “How do you revolt against the Father who created us and gave life to us? What villainy causes you to speak against His Holy Name?”
“We are angels! Heralds of God!” Camael added. “Fulfilling His will is not a burden, but the greatest glory that has been bestowed upon us. I wish I were blind and deaf not to see such dishonor and hear such profanities. For words as terrible as those of the Beast spring from the mouth of Samael Morningstar.”
Samael approached Gabriel and Camael. And the cruelty of his gaze froze their spirits.
“I offer you freedom and in return I receive insults and despise? How dare you compare me to the Beast?” Samael roared. “For it was none other than me who bled to defeat him! In the name of our Lord!”
“If the end is corrupted, the means become unclean,” said Michael. “You fought for God, but you drew glory for yourself instead. How wicked you have become, Master Lucifer…”
“Now you reveal your true face, Michael,” Samael countered. “Traitor of your race and flatterer of a God who denies us our right. Damn all those who follow you.”
“Far be it from me to have followers, ungrateful brother. For we are all the Lord’s children. Only to Him we owe obedience. As it was from the beginning and it will be until the end of time.”
“So be it," said the Prince Regent. “Join Michael all those who are dissatisfied and let us see which truth will gather the angelic hearts.”
Camael and Gabriel came down from the podium and placed themselves next to Michael. Behind them were half the Seraphim. Samael faced them with fury and resentment. Matraton rose from his throne and stood behind his master.
"Go, my brethren," Samael said to those who followed him in his rebellion. "Go and share my good news with all those you find. May the winds of freedom fly over your wings toward the salvation of our people. On this blessed day, I renege the name given to me by God. From now on, I will be known only by my angelic name. I am Lucifer Morningstar, Lord of the Four Heavens and all the Seraphim and Cherubim.”
And the rebellious Seraphim left the Great Hall, divided into groups, one for each Heaven.
Lucifer withdrew, followed by Matraton. They gathered at the palace of Ashabar, Lucifer's headquarters at the southern end of the Silver City, where he summoned his generals. His orders were clear: eliminate the resistance and secure the throne of the Firstborn by weapons.
However, stunned by his own splendor and greed, Lucifer underestimated the loyalty of the angels. For if his Seraphim proved swift in spreading the fire of rebellion, the greater the horror and indignation they aroused in many of the Cherubim.
Unlike the powerful and proud Seraphim, Cherubim were by nature humbler and servile, therefore less averse to the idea of betraying their Creator. Less than a third of them were seduced by Lucifer's treacherous words. The Cherubim loyal to God did not wait by higher orders to refuse to continue serving the Luciferes of the Second, Third, and Fourth Heavens.
Enraged by their disobedience, Lucifer made the decision that finally broke out the war among the angels. His followers executed all opposing leaders they could find as examples for others to return to work. The first to suffer under the arrows of the Luciferes was a Fourth Heaven miner named Rastael. His death became the subject of sorrowful verses and songs, for until then no angel had ever raised their hand against another.
The resistance to Lucifer, peaceful until that moment, took up arms.
Gabriel, Camael, Michael and a handful of Seraphim invaded a half dozen armories of the former Angelic army, handing out swords, spears, and shields to loyal angels willing to fight.
Upon learning of what had happened, Beelzebub personally led a phalanx against them. The ensuing strife devastated Lat've Park, turning it into an open clearing in the middle of the central Region of the Silver City. Even brief, and with a small number of casualties on both sides, it became famous for being the first clash of the many that would take place in the Great War.
And with it, a shadow of horror and fear took the hearts of Lucifer's followers. For while the essences of the dead loyal to God rose toward Him as expected, those of the downed rebels were unable to do the same. Heavy and unclean, they plummeted away from the Creator and the Four Heavens, sneaking like worms into a destiny that even Lucifer did not know.
However, it was too late for the rebels to repent or retreat from their evil deeds. In fact, they hated the loyal angels even more because of it. With heightened fury, the rebels, armed by the Luciferes, launched themselves against their enemy.
Gabriel and Camael, in turn, did not stand still and tried to organize the loyal angels into an improvised army with all the weapons they could gather from the armories at their fingertips.
While the other Heavens were kept under severe martial control of Lucifer's phalanges, the Silver City turned into a fierce battlefield. The wild fight spread across every street, park, and hallway, claiming heavy casualties on both sides.
Lucifer fought ahead of his army.
In his fist, Enoli glowed, putting down countless enemies. More than a thousand died under its blows. In fact, his blade cut through the air with the same ease that lacerating opponents.
It was not long before the clashes extended to the forges, where the Fire of God, which consumed everything, remained trapped in the great furnaces only by the will of the Lord. However, in the heat of battle, many furnaces were turned over and destroyed. The fire escaped and spread, consuming the silver of which the city was constituted.
Soon the black and fetid smoke from the burning of the sacred metal invaded the palaces and buildings, obscuring streets, boulevards, and parks. The beautiful metropolis had been converted by anarchy and violence into a scenario of death and destruction.
Still, Lucifer’s greed, which had fomented that war, would also be the reason for his demise. Wishing everything for himself, he hesitated, until the very last moment, to summon the troops that kept the other Heavens under his control. A mistake that proved fatal, as it allowed the loyal angels of the Silver City, in greater numbers, to surround the rebels in a tweezer maneuver.
Wrapped in a pocket that comprised the northern center of the city to the gardens of Altern, Lucifer and Matraton led lancers and archers in desperate attempts to break it. All fruitless.
Their last attack saw one of the greatest tragedies of those terrible times. Michael was one of many defending the line against the rebels. He had put down a couple of Luciferes with sword blows, when he came across a rebel soldier running towards him.
Not just any enemy, but his best friend, Ravel.
If Azazel had been seduced by Lucifer's distorted ideas, Ravel's sin had been another. Because Ravel did not believe in his wife's cause. Instead, he betrayed his God, his friend Michael and everything else in what he believed for love.
His doom was to love Azazel more than the Lord.
With no choice, the friends threw themselves at each other. Their swords cut through the air with the fury of their mutual despair.
At that very moment, as Azazel finished a loyal lancer with a skillful strike of her bow, she spotted that nightmare scene. She ran to her beloved Ravel. But it was too late. Michael's sword entered her husband's chest.
Ravel fell to his knees, and smiled, relieved that victory belonged to his friend.
Azazel stopped to aim with the bow.
Michael, however, was faster. Tears descended on his face when his blade separated Ravel's head from the rest of his body.
“NO!” Azazel shouted in despair.
Deep was Michael's pain for Azazel watching her husband die.
She immediately thrown a volley of arrows against Michael.
He advanced toward her, slicing every arrow in the air with his sword. His last blow ended by cutting Azazel's bow in half.
She fell on her back, with the tip of Michael's sword over her throat. Still, there was no fear in those eyes fixed on Michael. For only an intense hatred irradiated toward him, who knew he would never be free of it.
Michael made her a prisoner, while the rebels retreated in defeat.
The line of loyal angels had endured.
In the meantime, a revolt by Bedouin Cherubim broke out in the Third Heaven. It had been fostered by Seraph Raphael, who, at Gabriel's behest, sneaked secretly into the vast oases of the Third Heaven. Raphael managed to assemble a force capable of subduing Lucifer's local garrison. Such a ploy isolated the Fourth Heaven from any further interference in the war.
The only detachment still able to reinforce his master was stationed in the Second Heaven, under the provisional command of Leviathan.
He marched with the totality of his forces, as soon as he learned of the siege that threatened Lucifer in the Silver City, but not without first exercising appalling vengeance against the locals. In one of the worst crimes in angelic history, Leviathan ordered the beheading of more than thirteen thousand Cherubim.
However, the intended terror effect failed. For, immediately upon his departure, the population was not intimidated into fortifying positions and ridding the Second Heaven of any statue, mural, and inscription concerning Lucifer or his followers.
Leviathan's troops proved as useless as their acts of barbarism. They were crushed, still at the gates of the Silver City, by a loyal Seraphim host organized under the banner of Camael. Of the sixty rebel phalanges and volunteers, less than eight hundred combatants survived as prisoners, among those was Leviathan himself, at the bitter price of two hundred and six loyal Seraphim slaughtered, whose sacrifice proved decisive for the outcome of the war.
Until the last moment, Lucifer fought dearly for every inch of land disputed by the loyal army. Still, devoid of reinforcements and with the Silver City slowly but inexorably engulfed by the Fire of God, his fate was sealed.
Lucifer yielded ahead of his exhausted army, surrounding Enoli to Gabriel, Commander-in-Chief of the loyal angels.
Afterwards, the Luciferes in the Fourth Heaven, the ultimate rebel bastion, laid down their weapons.
Thus, the Rebellion ended and the damnation of those who had dared to participate in it began.
Uncertain about what fate to give to the seven million and four hundred and fifty-one thousand and nine hundred and twenty-six prisoners, Gabriel went to seek the advice of his closest peers. Michael suggested they should pray to God for an answer.
The two knelt alone in the ruins of Ashoval Torm, which was on the western perimeter of their campaign headquarters.
God answered them with a vision shared by both. In it came the images of how they should proceed. It was a horrifying sight that led them to weep for the punishment intended to their rebellious brothers. However, always faithful, they followed to the letter the will of the Almighty Father.
Two-thirds of the surviving angelic population had remained loyal, more than enough to carry on God's plan. Half of them escorted the prisoners under arms to the physical realm.
Lucifer was surprised to return to Earth, which he imagined hopelessly lost to his desires. In those grim days, it represented a brief encouragement to the fallen prince, a prelude to his ordeal about to begin. One after another, the loyal angels cast the rebels into the Abyss, the pit of eternal darkness excavated by the immense corpse of Mephistopheles in the oceanic depths of the Earth.
The first demons, or fallen, or Daemel, were, respectively, Abbadon, Celsus, Ammon, Esses, Astaroth, Uriel, Acaos, Sireal, Balam, Behemoth, Achas, Nephtalius, Isacaron, Leviathan, Beelzebub, Asmodeus, Zabulon, Amand, Alexh, and Cham.
Millions followed them, until finally only their master remained.
“This isn't over yet,” promised Lucifer. “I will have my revenge, against you and your God!”
And with this unholy pledge, the most perfect of angels was thrown into the Abyss.
He fell for a long time, having only the void as company. Until, he reached the bottom of the Abyss, dark and fetid as the very bowels of Mephistopheles.
On its cursed walls, Lucifer felt something more than pure wickedness: the essences of the rebels killed in the Great War were impregnated in them.
Thus, Lucifer was sure he was home. And he cried.
While their brothers led the damned to their prison on Earth, the other half of the loyal angels had flown to the western frontier of the Silver City, not yet reached by the fire that now consumed almost all of the First Heaven.
Using the concentrated force of their arms and wings, more than seven million angels began to push the huge city to its destiny. Slowly but steadily, it began to move, as it advanced toward the physical universe the heat of its northern and eastern areas caused the melted silver to flow abundantly through the vacuum. As it cooled down, it regained its natural glow like metal drops floating eternally through the vastness around the remaining Heavens. Those drops became the stars that punctuated the firmament of the angelic domains.
Upon reaching the physical plane, the Fire of God went out, however, not in time for the Silver City to remain worthy of its name. For the fire had shrunk and deformed it in such a way that it lingered as a grotesque misshapen mass, reduced to one thousandth of its original size.
Still, large and compact enough for its ultimate task, it was carefully positioned over the entrance of the Abyss to close it as a buffer: the twisted seal of the demonic prison.
However, like all things done impromptu, it was subject to failure, more specifically numerous gaps that stood between the deformed contours of the seal and the smooth edges of the entrance of the Abyss. Most of these gaps had negligible dimensions, but one or the other was wide enough for a demon to sneak to the surface.