Chapter 830 - There He Was
The positions of the eight God-Kings of Hell were not something any mortal could ever hope to comprehend.
Each one of their ranks had existed since the earliest creatures of flesh gained sentience and learned to sin. They were born of our flaws, given shape by our misdeeds, and inaugurated into perpetuity by our vanity.
They were not names of singular beings but 'ideas' brought manifest. They could neither be killed nor stopped, not in any real sense. They always had and always would be lurking in the shadows, just outside the bounds of comprehension, hatching their vile plans.
All one could hope to achieve was the postponement of their inevitable arrival as much as possible. And more often than not, that was only possible when they would take physical form for the first time into pure and willing hosts. (Read CH 601 for details)
If the host was destroyed in both body and soul before it was besmirched by the darkness, only then would the there be some hope for the world.
In most cases of possession coming across even a single Demon Prince level entity would be akin to finding a branch in an endless forest yet, right now, this entity named Ba`al Zebub that was only below the Four Old Ones was standing beside an ordinary mortal man, trying to tempt him with its vile magics.
It had not only given him the one thing he wanted the most, to see his son again but also held out an olive branch that was not easy to turn away.
They didn't have a concept of hell or demons in this world yet but that did not mean such things did not exist.
Jax continuously shook his head trying to stave off the horrendous visions that now came to him even when he was awake. They were both a gift and a curse depending on how one looked at it.
They could be seen as a gift because they showed the most probable future events that would affect Jax. And they could also be seen as a terrible curse because the visions only ever showed horrifyingly gruesome ends.
These visions were "gifted" to Jax to prepare him for Ba`al's arrival and to whittle down his sanity so when the time came, he would not fight back.
A smile stretched across the swarm as it watched Jax struggle. It pushed him again.
"You have already witnessed what happens if you do not accept my help. They will **** and pillage your world until there is nothing left, loot all its resources for themselves before selling you and all your future generations to the stars, dooming them to an eternity within the void."
"Accept me and I will give you the power you so ardently desire. You will command my army, fight in MY name! No one will ever be able to steal from you, to look down upon you. You will be the savior of your people, your name will be written in blood and gold for all of time."
As he spoke the voice got louder and louder until all Jax could hear were those words. Even the ground had started shaking.
He covered his ears and closed his eyes, "NO! I DON'T WANT ANY OF THAT! Please leave me alone! I don't want to fight, I don't want to shed blood."
The buzzing got even louder for a few seconds and to Jax's ears it sounded like Ba`al's voice was the only thing in existence, echoing between all of heaven and earth as it demanded an answer.
"Why must you continue this meaningless game? Who else will save you but for ME?!" a wrathful bellow threatened to topple all of creation.
"NO! There is still hope!" Jax shouted and the next moment a storm erupted around him.
All the trees in the surroundings were ripped from the earth and thrown away like vapor. Even Jax was barely holding on for dear life as the torrent of voices ceaselessly battered against his spirit.
"SHOW ME! What hope do you speak off?! There is nothing you can hide from me!"
Jax felt a force pry open his mind and rummage through his memories one by one. It abruptly stopped when it came upon the image of a young man.
"Him...?" the voices asked skeptically, unsure of their findings.
Jax was already at the end of his rope and finally broke down.
"YES! HE IS THE ONLY ONE THAT HAS BROKEN FREE! He...was not in my visions before, if it is him, he could change our fate!" he roared with all his might.
The voices came to an unexpected stop. The storm ceased and the ground came to a standstill.
"He...was not in your visions before?" the voices asked slowly to which Jax gave a single powerless nod.
"He is not meant to be here.. He wasn't here before but then he was. I saw it with my own eyes!"