Hazbin Hotel: Another Adam

Heaven. Emily's Room, 7th floor of the Seraphim Tower.

Soft, diffused light from a huge panoramic window flooded the spacious room of the young woman. White furniture with gold inserts, bookshelves reaching to the ceiling, crammed with ancient tomes, several paintings with serene heavenly landscapes on the walls, a bed, and a desk. The perfect home for one of the Seraphim, young Emily, responsible for maintaining the overall positive mood in Heaven.

But now, the atmosphere in the study was far from positive. Emily herself, pale, with dark circles under her violet eyes, sat in a deep armchair, staring at a single point. Her silver hair was in disarray, and an expression of horror and disbelief was frozen on her lips.

"Do you see now, my dear?" The voice of the woman standing opposite her was soft, insinuating, almost hypnotic, but a hidden power and… venom could be felt in it. "Do you see now that they lied to you? All this time?"

The woman pointed her delicate finger at a large holographic monitor hanging in the air in the middle of the study. Horrifying, shocking images flickered on the screen: here, Archangel Adam, with a crazed grin on his face, tears apart crowds of defenseless sinners during an Extermination. Here, the Head of the Seraphim, Sera, with icy calmness on her face, gives the order to begin another "Cleansing" of Hell, which is actually a bloody massacre. Here again, Adam, with sadistic pleasure, tortures some unfortunate sinner with Light in a basement, and a couple of hours later – he is amicably conversing with the princess of Hell, Charlie, pretending to be the very embodiment of goodness and justice.

"They deceived you, Emily," the woman repeated, her voice becoming even quieter, more penetrating. An old, rough scar was visible on her neck, as if a sword had fallen from the sky onto her throat, and the wound had not healed. She came closer and looked directly into the young Seraph's eyes, full of despair and disbelief. "They betrayed everything you believed in. Used you. Your kindness. Your naivety. Do you really want to continue being a blind toy in their hands? To live in this deceitful, hypocritical world they have built?"

"I… I don't…" Emily's mind, pure and bright, unaccustomed to lies and cruelty, simply refused to accept this terrible truth. Her world, so understandable and harmonious, was literally crumbling before her eyes, burying her under its wreckage. She could do nothing about it. Her ideals, her faith in goodness, in the wisdom of the elder Seraphim – all of it turned out to be a lie, a fake. "I… I don't believe… This can't be…"

"No need for more words, my dear," the woman smiled enigmatically, and a dangerous, inhuman glint flashed in her eyes for a moment. She offered Emily a simple red apple, but there was something… different about this particular fruit. A barely perceptible but unsettling aura emanated from it – something sacred, ancient, dangerous, and incredibly alluring at the same time. "Take it. When you decide to learn the truth, not the sweet lies they've been feeding you all these years, just take a bite. And then you will understand everything…"

Smiling enigmatically one last time, the woman took a step back and… disappeared. Simply dissolved in a small, almost imperceptible burst of Darkness, leaving behind only a faint smell of sulfur and… apples. And Emily was left alone, with an apple in her trembling hand, and a difficult choice she had to make.

POV Adam

I was returning from that fucking aristocratic party at Paimon's a bit embarrassed, but overall – quite pleased with myself and the results of my outing. I had decided on a further plan of action regarding the Deadly Sins – I'll start with Belphegor, and then we'll see. And, perhaps, I overdid it a bit with the punishment for the von Eldritch family… Well, that is, for Bethesda. To be honest, Seviathan deserved even more, but his mother… Why did I beat the shit out of her like that? Yes, she started the fight first, assumed her true form, tried to kill me… But she was just worried about her son! I'm sure any normal, loving mother would rush at her child's attacker without a second thought. And I… beat her half to death, and then put her on a chain like some dog. In front of all those pompous aristocrats…

Before leaving, I did say goodbye to Stolas and his family. I went up, apologized for the "minor incident" (Stolas just smiled sourly and waved his hand, as if to say, "it happens, especially at hellish balls"). Wished them a pleasant evening. Told Octavia I'd definitely take her to that concert. Actually, I did it not only to calm down a bit and make amends to the owl's family, who had stood up for me, but also so that all the "cream of society" around us would understand one simple thing: Stolas's family is under my personal protection, and if anyone else dares to offend them or harm them in any way… they will have to deal with me personally. With a guy who can calmly beat the shit out of one of the strongest demonesses in Hell at a ball hosted by the King of Goetia Paimon himself, then have a nice chat with that same Paimon in his office, and then, as if nothing happened, walk out, talk to whoever he wants, and calmly bail. Sounds pretty good for a reputation, doesn't it?

And I really wanted to calm the little owl down too. The girl was really stressed out because of all this bullshit, and if I had the chance, I would have taken her home long ago. No place for her here.

And yes. As a farewell. The little bird pecked me on the lips. Quickly, awkwardly, almost weightlessly, and immediately jumped back, blushing deeply. Let's just agree that it was… a friendly kiss? In gratitude for the rescue and for the pleasant company? Okay? And anyway, even in my past world, there were such companies and such countries where similar displays of affection between friends were considered the norm! So there's nothing wrong with that! She just got nervous and… Eh, who am I trying to fool?! Myself, perhaps?

Baal, my demonic avatar, seems to have really gotten under this little depressive bird's skin. And I, to be honest, am a little afraid of the moment when she finds out that all this time, this Baal was actually "old grandpa" Adam, who loves to arrange genocides of sinners and enjoys the smell of napalm in the morning. I'm afraid her reaction will be… not very predictable. And not very positive.

The same, by the way, applies to Lute when she finds out about this "innocent kiss" of mine with Octavia… Oh, I don't even want to imagine what will happen then. She is, of course, very understanding and loving, but also seems to be jealous to the point of shitting herself. I'm afraid she'll come to Hell without further ado and just slit the throat of the "competitor" who, in her opinion, is trying to lead me to the "dark side"... Although no, here I'm probably exaggerating a bit. Lute is a very responsible and disciplined young woman; she would never do anything that could harm Heaven or me personally. Even if she really, really wants to, but I still don't really want to upset my sweet valkyrie, so I'll just pretend that nothing special happened… Yes, I'm cowardly running away from a potential problem. Why not? Sometimes it's the most sensible way out.

"Sticking stickies, bitches all around me, smack their faces, they want on my lap (bitches)!" What the hell is blaring in my ears right now?! Ah, it's that very "bestseller" from the earthly music industry that I accidentally downloaded to my mask while flying around the human world. Yes, I'm fucking shocked by such lyrics too. Yes, I've regretted a hundred times already that I decided to turn on this torture for the ears to "relax" a bit after the hellish showdowns. And yes, I'm on Earth again now.

What am I doing here? It's simple – trying to calm down a bit and gather my thoughts. Because I have to go back to my woman now. And she, by the way, with her hypersensitive "female instincts," might sense that I "screwed up" somewhere, and then the classic family conversation in the style of: "Honey, where have you been? Running around," will begin. And I really, really don't want that. Just as I don't want to explain why I spent half the night hanging out with a young, depressive, and very cute owl-girl from a noble infernal family, and why this very owl-girl decided to kiss me goodbye!

And yes, I made absolutely no effort to hide, flying over nighttime New York now, blinding people with golden wings and concurrently catching various petty bastards like robbers, rapists, and maniacs. I've caught about a hundred of them in the last couple of hours, and it was quite easy when you can fly at the speed of a jet fighter and possess such reaction and vision that someone like "Hawkeye" couldn't even dream of reaching, like walking to the moon. What was his peak? "Chocolate Eye"? Even at his very peak, that archer wasn't even fit to tie my shoelaces! So the work was easy and even a bit… relaxing? A kind of meditation.

Maybe create some special Exorcist department that would deal with crime on Earth? Protect the innocent, punish the villains… I wouldn't say the idea is fucking great; too much hassle and various problems could arise. But it's worth considering… An agency for combating…

Then I stopped abruptly, hovering in the air above some roof. Cherubim! Fuck! Right!

The C.H.E.R.U.B. agency! Which, in theory, is precisely engaged in saving "good" human souls and helping them get to Heaven! Or something like that, I don't even remember anymore. It's worth clarifying a bit here for those who are not aware of local theology. Cherubim are not just "little angels with wings." These are special beings, artificially created by the Seraphim themselves in their own image and likeness, but with one important difference: the pure, unclouded element of Light is initially embedded in them. They are, sort of, "the embodiment of good, beaver (goodness), and other positive bullshit." An analogue of demons spawned by the Deadly Sins, only with a "plus" sign.

(Author's note: In the canon, C.H.E.R.U.B. was originally conceived as a complete copy of I.M.P., in which the characters were "reflections" of imps, but this idea was abandoned)

But why did I suddenly remember them specifically? Because in one of the "Helluva Boss" episodes, we were briefly shown a very strange deer-cherub who worked at this C.H.E.R.U.B. agency and behaved… well, very suspiciously. And in the background at their agency, there was some stupid poster about "useful friends" with the signature "God." Damn, I don't remember the details anymore, only that this episode caused a lot of interest among fans back then, and there were a bunch of different theories about it on the internet. Naturally, the authors themselves most likely didn't imply anything so deep and inserted it all "just for kicks." And I didn't particularly like the episode itself back then; it seemed kind of boring and pointless, so I didn't pay much attention to it. And I should have…

Could it be that Eve's contractors have dug in not only in Hell, but also… in Heaven?! Among the cherubim, for example?!

No, I more or less trust the Seraphim after our last conversation. They are, of course, quite… peculiar individuals, with their own bats in the belfry and fears, but they are still "ours." But the cherubim… I haven't "scanned" anyone in Heaven with my "Eye of Adam" yet! It just never even occurred to me! And what if… what if there really are traitors among them? And how, in that case, am I supposed to check this? Fly through all the heavenly cities and scan every inhabitant? I'll fucking lose my mind! No, thank you. When Saraqael finishes the project to upgrade the spy drones and integrates the "Eye" into them, then I'll send them for a mass check. And now… now I urgently need to run over to their Cherub Town and personally take a look at the local population. And at that suspicious deer.

Stop! What if they didn't make any contract with Eve? But just… I don't know… accidentally got infected with Darkness? Or someone deliberately defiled them? Is that even possible?

Without thinking for another second, I open a portal directly into the Seraphim Council Hall. Sera, as usual, is sitting there alone, bent over a heavenly analogue of a laptop, intently studying something.

"Bonjour, babe!" I fly into the hall, smiling broadly and waving at her. "Lis-s-sten, I have a little question for you… purely theoretically, is there any chance that Darkness could somehow imperceptibly penetrate the souls of Heaven's inhabitants, and we wouldn't even feel it? Like, without contracts, or obvious signs?"

Sera first jumped from the surprise of my sudden appearance, then almost choked on her heavenly tea (or whatever she was drinking?), and then, when the meaning of my words reached her, she coughed so hard that she almost threw up.

"Kha-kha-KHAAA!" She convulsively wiped her lips with a snow-white napkin and stared at me with eyes full of shock. "Adam… What… what led you to such… suspicions?"

"Nah, nothing like that," I waved my hands carelessly, trying to look as innocent as possible. "Just flew over Earth recently, thinking about eternal things… And thought, like: 'What if there's a traitor among us?!' Well, or just 'infected ones,' as an option. Paranoia, you know, is a contagious thing. Especially after close acquaintance with certain individuals from Hell."

"…" Sera silently looked at me for several seconds, clearly trying to understand if I was joking or serious.

"Well, what's up, our chief Seraphim-chick," I switched to a more businesslike tone. "Can you upgrade my 'little eye' somehow? So I can track not only Eve's influence, but also just the presence of any foreign Darkness in souls? Just in case…"

"I think it's possible…" Sera said, a little uncertainly, still looking at me suspiciously. I flew up to her and handed her the "Eye of Adam." She took the artifact, her fingers glowing with a soft golden light. For about ten seconds, she conjured something over it, then returned it to me. "Done. Now it should react to any anomalous Darkness, glowing bright red, and vibrating a little differently. But, Adam, I beg you…"

"Yeah, yeah, got it, Sera, don't panic," I interrupted her, already heading for the exit from the hall. "If anything – I'll report immediately. And now I urgently need to leave on some very important business. And anyway," I turned around at the very door, "I actually have an account on Heavenstagram, add me as a friend, you can message me if anything. Ciao-cacao!"

I flew out of the Council Hall, leaving a stunned Sera behind, and immediately created a portal leading directly to Cherub Town.

"But… to write to you on Heavenstagram, we have to be added as friends, and I'm subscribed to you there… But you're not subscribed to me…" Sera muttered in confusion to the empty space.

A couple of minutes later, I was already hovering in the heavens before the huge, pearl-white gates leading to Cherub Town. The city of cherubim was strikingly different from anything I had seen in Heaven before. There was none of that stern, monumental architecture of the central Capital or the cozy simplicity of residential areas. Cherub Town was… strange?

Many buildings here had some strange, distorted shapes, tilted turrets, asymmetrical roofs. One of them, the tallest, actually resembled a giant harp. The houses were painted in bright, pastel tones – sky blue, soft pink, sunny yellow, mint green. And there was an interesting feature: if the walls of a house were, say, sky blue, then the windows and doors were invariably golden. And vice versa – golden walls and blue windows. Cute.

Cherubim, as I already knew, were entrusted with an important mission – to protect human lives on Earth and "shower them with their divine love and care, to give them a reason to live righteously and, ultimately, get to Heaven." Well, at least, that was the official version I read on the internet; Adam didn't give a shit about them (because he's not a furry-fucker). Unlike demons like imps or succubi, who needed grimoires or crystals to move between worlds, cherubim possessed an innate ability to travel freely between Earth and Heaven without any outside help. This ability, however, could be taken away from them as punishment for any serious misconduct.

The cherubim themselves were no larger than an ordinary human child. In appearance, they most often resembled some cute, fluffy earthly animals – sheep, lambs, rabbits, bees, or deer. But there were also more human-like ones, resembling small children with wings. Pastel, gentle tones predominated in their appearance; their eyes were large, shiny, with pupils that, as a rule, had some strange, faded hue, unlike the completely black or colored pupils of demons. Each cherub had a small golden halo hovering above its head, and small, elegant wings grew from its back when needed, allowing them to fly. And they constantly radiated a soft, warm glow around themselves – an aura of "goodness and positivity."

"Sir Adam? What a surprise!" One of the exorcists patrolling the entrance to Cherub Town flew up to me. Lyudmila. An officer under whose command were about a hundred of my girls responsible for the security of this city. She looked surprised but immediately snapped to attention.

By the way, about patrols. I could have just summoned all my exorcists and ordered them to scan all of Cherub Town for Darkness. That would have been much easier and faster than flying around here alone… Yes. "A good thought comes afterwards," as they say. Sometimes I surprise myself with my own stupidity.

"Hey there, little nipple!" I waved cheerfully at Lyudmila. "I'm here purely for tourist purposes! I'll be looking for evil worms that have infiltrated our beautiful Heaven and are trying to eat all the cute little cherubim!"

I activated the "Eye of Adam." The artifact on my neck vibrated familiarly but didn't light up blue. Clean so far.

"Um…" Lyudmila looked at me like I was a complete idiot. "It will be done, sir… I'll inform the other patrols of your… visit."

"Yep, thanks for your service, Lyudka!" I winked at her and, without waiting for her to recover from the shock, flew through the hospitably opened pearl gates, which other exorcists standing guard immediately opened for me. They also heard my nonsense about worms, but unlike Lyudmila, they didn't even bat an eyelid. Training!

This is all just nerves, don't mind me. Just trying to lighten the mood a bit. I've been too serious lately.

I flew around the city for about fifteen minutes. Just circling over these fairy-tale houses, parks, fountains. Scanning every cherub I met with my "Eye." They, in turn, joyfully waved at me, smiled, blew kisses, and in every way expressed their delight at the unexpected visit of the Archangel himself, though the level of their respect and adoration was still a bit different from what I was used to seeing from ordinary human souls in Heaven. Those looked at me with genuine, almost religious awe. And these… these were more like enthusiastic fans who had seen their idol. But it was still pleasant.

As a result of my search, I finally found that fucking building! The very C.H.E.R.U.B. agency I had seen in the cartoon. It was an ordinary, unremarkable two-story building of blue stone with golden windows, modestly nestled on one of the quiet streets. Cute.

I flew right through the front door (I don't like knocking) and found myself in a small lobby. A reception desk, behind which some chubby bee-cherub sat, listlessly flipping through a magazine. Several sofas for visitors. On the walls – posters with calls to "Help thy neighbor get to Heaven!" and "Every soul has a chance!". Here, as I understood, came the souls of angels who wanted their relatives or friends on Earth to be helped to "reform" and also find eternal bliss. The cherubim from this agency took on such cases, tried somehow to "instruct" and "guide" sinners onto the true path. And, it seemed, according to statistics, every fourth of their "wards" indeed ended up in Heaven. Of course, the result is far from ideal, considering how many souls go straight to Hell daily, but still better than what it is now.

"Greetings, esteemed lady!" I approached the reception desk, bestowing my most charming smile upon the little bee. "By any chance, does a certain… uh… deer-lady work here? I think her name is Deerie… or Didi… or something like that? Don't you recall?"

"Deerie?" The little bee looked up at me with her big blue eyes in surprise. The deer-cherub from the cartoon was literally named "Deerie." "Yes, she works here. Head of the department for particularly difficult cases. She's in her office now, on the second floor… And what is your business, if it's not a secret? Do you have an appointment?"

"It's a secret!" I playfully winked at the stunned little sheep, interrupted her mid-sentence, and, without waiting for her, simply flew up to the second floor.

"Wait! Sir! I didn't say which office exactly!.." her confused cry came from below.

But I wasn't listening anymore. Quickly scanning the corridor with the "Eye," I began to methodically open all the doors in a row. So… toilet… staff break room… broom closet (and why do they need a closet full of brooms?)… Oh! And this is something interesting!

A large, bright room, divided into many small cubicles, like in some typical open-plan office. A cherub sat at each desk, diligently typing something on their tablet or talking on a headset. I immediately drew attention. I quickly scanned them all one by one. Clean. Clean. Clean.

And there it is! At the very end of this "office," by the door to a separate, apparently, manager's office, hung that very poster I vaguely remembered from the cartoon! "Surround yourself with people who will lift you higher. So fuck all your loser friends you can't use. - God." Now that's fucking suspicious as hell! What the hell is such a "motivational" quote doing in the office of an organization that's supposed to bring goodness and light?!

I sharply opened the door to Deerie's office. And what I saw there made me freeze for a second. The deer-cherub… she wasn't alone. There was clearly someone under her desk, judging by the sheep's legs with hooves sticking out from there… Hearing the door open, he poked his curly sheep's head out from under the desk, with a clear expression of fear and… something else on his face. Apparently, I interrupted them at the most inopportune moment, when he was diligently performing order "sixty-nine," if you know what I mean… But it wasn't this spicy moment that primarily caught my attention, but the Darkness! The "Eye of Adam" on my neck literally went berserk! The crystal in the center flashed bright red and began to vibrate! There was Darkness in both of them – in the deer and in the ram! And since the "Eye's" color is red, it means they didn't make a contract with Eve!

"Who the hell are you?!.." Deerie began, surprised and indignant, but didn't get to finish. She, along with her ram-lover, was simply blown off her feet by a powerful beam of pure Light that erupted from my palm. The wall of the office behind them was completely incinerated, revealing a view of the street.

Well then. Looks like I'm about to beat the shit out of this horned (literally and figuratively) fool and her curly-haired ass-kisser, and then let Sera and the other Seraphim figure out what to do with all this bullshit…

"The lambs are fucked…" I said grimly, watching as the two figures tumbled through the air, flew out of the city, and landed on the ground with a loud thud. Didn't they die from such an impact? Oh well, what's the difference.

I fly out of the ruined office after them. I see the ram has already climbed out of the pit and is trying to catch his breath. But Deerie the deer is nowhere to be seen. Did she die?

"Adam! You bastard! I'll kill you!!!" the little ram suddenly screamed, his blue eyes turning bloodshot.

The ram's body began to change. His white, fluffy wool rapidly turned black, the wings on his back increased in size, becoming leathery like a bat's, and the halo above his head cracked and crumbled into golden dust. Hmm… Looks like I just triggered some kind of "dark transformation." Fun.

"Pathetic…" I easily dodged his clumsy swipe with a clawed paw. Yes, he became stronger, faster. But he was still quite the weakling. Power level – about the same as Blitz's gang. Idiot. I just jumped up and, with a spinning kick, slammed my heel into his horned sheep's head. A crunch. And the "fallen cherub's" body collapses to the ground like a sack.

I approach Deerie the deer. She was also in her "dark" form – black fur, sharp fangs. But it seems my first blow still hit her pretty hard. She was unconscious… Hmm… Boring.

I lift both "fallen ones" with telekinesis and leisurely fly back to the gates of Cherub Town. The exorcists there had already raised the alarm, cordoned off the city, and were ready to repel an attack.

"Stand down!" I barked at Lyudmila, who was just giving some orders over the radio. "Cordon off the city. No one in, no one out. In case of an attempted breakthrough – shoot to kill. If anyone with clear signs of Darkness is detected – immediately sound the alarm on the emergency channel so I can arrive. Clear?!"

"Yes, sir!" Lyudmila and the other exorcists snapped to attention. They'll manage from here. And I – to Sera. Urgently. I have very, VERY bad news for her.

"…So these two obviously must be immediately interrogated with prejudice, and then – burned at the fucking stake! Publicly! To make an example out of them for the others!" I finished my emotional report in the Seraphim Council Hall, where I had teleported these two "fallen cherubim" (they were still unconscious, bound hand and foot with Light). The Seraphim (all except Emily, who was prudently not invited) listened to me with grim faces.

Of course, I understand their humanism and aversion to violence. I myself am against killing demons, who, generally, are not to blame for being born as they are, but to spare the lives of traitors who consciously went over to the side of Darkness and sabotage such important work as saving human souls… That's something else entirely!

It turned out, by the way, that twelve thousand employees had disappeared from that goddamn agency over the last hundred years! TWELVE THOUSAND, FOR FUCK'S SAKE!!! Do you even understand the scale of this clusterfuck?! That fucking deer EXPELLED TWELVE THOUSAND BRIGHT CHERUBIC SOULS FROM HEAVEN! Why?! Fuck knows!

Michael and Saraqael will go to Cherub Town in the near future to conduct a total check and cleanup there. Raphael (the Seraphim in charge of Earth and "mankind." It was he, by the way, who covered up all my "adventures" in the guise of Jesus back in the day – for example, when, after getting thoroughly drunk on wine, I started preaching that "only assholes drink water, and real men should chug wine by the liter, or better yet, beer"... Eh, youth…) and Gabriel (this one was in charge of all cherubim and was sort of the unofficial "mayor" of their city) were to begin searching for these very twelve thousand missing cherubim on Earth. They couldn't have just vanished into thin air, could they?!

And, as you can understand, most of the Seraphim were AGAINST severe punishment for these two traitors in the form of immediate execution! Oh, these light-bearing idiots! "We need to figure things out first… Conduct an investigation… Find out the motives… Give them a chance for repentance…" Pah, fuck! What fucking repentance?! They sold or exiled twelve thousand souls! Burning them is not enough!

Nevertheless, by a majority vote (my vote, naturally, was for immediate and exemplary burning after interrogation), it was decided that their final fate would be decided after they figured out this whole situation and interrogated them properly. Emily, as I said, was not present at this "tribunal" – this time, the Seraphim themselves understood that a child had no place here. Well, just in case, before this whole farce began, I scanned all the present Seraphim with the "Eye of Adam." All clean, as expected.

"Fuck! Well, go fuck yourselves with your humanism!" I couldn't hold back, gave them all the middle finger, and, without waiting for the end of their "debates," teleported to my "pocket world," to the orbital station-laboratory.

Here, the body of my new "Combat Form" should have finally "ripened." The body, by the way, consisted entirely of concentrated Darkness (I drained it all from Asmodeus back then, so he was relatively "clean" now, though still unconscious and in stasis), but reliably sealed and controlled by Light. The body looks completely black with golden hair, eyes, and mouth. Looks cool, generally. A true Maclover.

Why did I even create it like this? From Darkness? Simple. Remember how a droplet of Darkness burned me in the battle with Alastor. And in the fight with Asmodeus, when that load of Darkness gushed out of him, I would have definitely died if he had touched me with it. So how to combat such an effect? That's right, fight fire with fire.

Darkness, like Light, is not just energy, but a kind of… substance? Concept? It has its own structure, its own laws. And it reacts extremely aggressively to Light, trying to absorb, neutralize, destroy it. That's why the Seraphim are so afraid of direct contact with it (as they are concentrated Light, and even a drop of Darkness is enough for their bodies and souls to start "going crazy"), but a body initially consisting of Darkness… it will be much more resistant to the external influence of enemy Darkness. It will be, so to speak, "at home" in this environment and may even be able to partially… let it pass through itself? Or even absorb and process it? I haven't fully figured out all these nuances yet, but my intuition told me I was on the right path.

I examine the finished body. Yes, Darkness is present in it in huge quantities. Thick, dense, almost tangible. The "Eye of Adam," naturally, immediately went berserk, glowing with all shades of red, but I was sure that in my normal form, this Darkness wouldn't pressure my mind in any way, and if it did at the moment I transform into the "combat" form… I'm not going to be in this form all the time, am I? Only in case of extreme necessity.

Hmm… And will the "Eye" react to the body's Darkness if I'm in this form? I walk around the body from behind and hang the artifact around its neck. Okay, no light, so everything's fine…

I approach the body from the front and... The stone inside the "Eye" starts to glow red? What the hell? I step aside. The reaction disappears. I approach the body again, and again the red light! I repeat this experiment several times. The result is the same. What the fuck is this clusterfuck?!