The Kind of Evil

Kyros was brought by the Devil by force and ended up in a place where the heat was enough to make his sweat sizzle. He couldn't breathe without his chest feeling immense pain, and his mouth was so dry it made him hallucinate from dehydration. He didn't remember how it happened, but he remembered that The Devil was gripping his shoulders earlier.

He looked at his surroundings and saw mountains made of lava with smokeless flames. He began to hear screams that he had never heard before, the kind of screams that went beyond desperation and pain. He thought he was hallucinating, but everything was so vivid because it gave him a chill down his spine.

"Oh, you're not hallucinating. Those screams belong to the people that were blinded by greed, pride, envy, wrath, gluttony, sloth, and lust," The Devil giggled. He was still a handsome young man. "Follow me, and you will see how hell treats them so kindly," he smiled mischievously and walked toward the long bridge made of stone.

"(Hell? So this is hell...)" Kyros was petrified that he couldn't move his body as he looked at his surroundings. His heart had never pounded this fast before and his sweat vaporized when it came out of his pores.

Kyros didn't want The Devil to repeat his words, but his legs were so weak. He used everything he had to move, and once he put his foot on the bridge, it immediately melted the sole of his loafer. He retracted his foot, but suddenly his feet floated from the ground and forced him to stay close to The Devil.

"You're an honored guest here, so I'll treat you differently," The Devil grinned at the old man. "Don't be scared, you're not dead yet, so you're not going to be treated like those humans," he chuckled mischievously as he watched the world he ruled over.

Kyros watched as the terrifying creatures fed those sinners with flesh-eating insects and bugs. He watched the other sinners drink a handful of lava to ease their thirst which only made it worse. He also watched them skin their skin because of the extreme itches on their bodies that wouldn't disappear.

He imagined himself in those situations with his pupils shrunk and shaken. He could feel the tingling sensation all over his body that made him shiver and tremble.

"It's fun to watch, right?" The Devil whispered into Kyros' ear in a deep and soothing voice. "But what you're seeing right now isn't even the tip of the iceberg. I can bring you down deeper and see what kind of tortures we do for people like you," he continued and chuckled mischievously into Kyros's ear.

Kyros felt a chill down his spine when the Devil whispered into his ear and felt sick, but he couldn't look away or throw up. He was forced to watch by The Devil which made him unable to ease the sickness in his stomach. His life was in the hands of the Devil, and his mind went blank and he didn't dare to think what the Devil wanted from him.

"Why did you bring me here?" Kyros gathered all the courage that he had to say those words, shaky and breathless. With every word he spoke, his chest and throat felt like being stabbed with hundreds of needles by the heat.

"God gave you two choices. First, accept your death and live your eternal life here in hell, or accept his offer to live a new life," The Devil answered as he fixed his slick black hair. "Well, it's obvious which option you're going to take, right?" He glanced at the old man with his glowing red eyes.

Kyros' eyes trembled at the being that people worshiped and asked quietly as he swallowed in pain, "God?"

"It's crazy, isn't it? That 'The' God gave you these choices," The Devil laughed.

"For what reason? To redeem myself for what I have done?" Kyros asked and hoped that it was the case because he didn't want to end up in Hell after he found out how terrifying it was.

The Devil laughed frantically and made all the sinners cover their ears as they screamed in pain and cowered in fear. The creatures that tortured the sinners were petrified by his laughter as well and trembled in fear. Kyros almost passed out because of fear from hearing the Devil's laughter from up close.

"Redeem yourself?! That's the funniest thing I have heard in millions of years!" The Devil shouted in front of Kyros' face as he kept laughing as his horns started to appear on his forehead. "God doesn't pity you! God despises you!" He glared at Kyros with a big grin on his face, mocking the old man's existence.

At that moment Kyros lost hope and was ready to accept his fate as he closed his eyes.

The Devil let out a short chuckle as he fixed his hair again and hid his horns.

"No, I was lying. God doesn't despise you. In fact, God has somehow praised you for your amazing feat of destroying the world that God treasured and eradicated all evils at the same time," The Devil said as he cleared his throat.

"Earth isn't supposed to become peaceful, but because of you and the death of the tyrant, it made the world peace and became one as humans. Of course, Satan is furious about that since you took the job," the Devil tilted his head and shrugged when he mentioned Satan. "If you choose to accept your fate here, Satan will make your stay worse than these sinners."

Kyros slowly opened his eyes with his eyebrows furrowed when he realized that his dream had come true, to eradicate evil by being the ultimate evil and bring all evil along to his demise.

"God is challenging you to turn a new world upside down, a world with a lot of complexity compared to Earth." The Devil crossed his arms and looked satisfied with the fear that was written on Kyros' face.

Kyros was so confused because it didn't sound right even though he didn't believe in divine existence his whole life. Something felt off about God and The Devil which made him feel uneasy.

"Let's just say I made a bet with God. I bet on you while God bet on that world," The Devil said. "So? What do you say? Stay here, or go to that world?" The Devil asked with his eyebrow raised.

"Anything but this place..." Kyros answered without hesitation as the image of hell was carved deep into his head that he wouldn't be able to forget.

"I know you're smart," The Devil grinned in excitement and showed off the mischievousness that was written on his face.

Kyros looked at the scene in front of him and he couldn't stop shivering. He knew the depiction of Hell from different religions, although what he read was spot on, but seeing it with his eyes it looked more terrifying than what he had imagined.

"You..." The Devil glanced at Kyros. "What was your goal? You went against humankind, created chaos, and killed millions of lives because of you. And yet, you changed your mind in the end." He narrowed his eyes with a stoic expression.

Kyros glanced at the Devil and he could tell the Devil was confused by his action back on Earth.

"Why do you want to know? Aren't you supposed to be able to read my mind?" Kyros asked back.

"You who defied God and listened to the demons inside you since you were young. You have committed countless sins that nobody has ever done in the history of humankind. Why did you change your mind in the end?" The Devil stared right into Kyros's soul so that Kyros could feel the itch in his chest.

"I was bored, that's all," Kyros answered nonchalantly with a straight face.

The Devil grinned and then started laughing again, making every soul in Hell tremble in fear.

"I like that, I like that a lot!" The Devil raised his voice in excitement with his pupils grew sharper like a cat's eyes. "Why don't you work for me, Kyros? I can assure you, that your soul will be treated like how those creatures treat me, with respect. I can also give whatever you need and make your stay here in hell like the heavens," he offered with a wide grin on his face.

"Why should I work for someone who's lower than me in terms of existence? God made you and those demons with unimaginable powers, and yet, all you could do to humans was to tempt and incite us. That's when I realized, you guys are powerless against humans and you're only powerful in your domain," Kyros stared back into the Devil's eyes even though he was trembling in fear.

The Devil's grin disappeared, but then he scoffed as he looked up at the red cloudless sky, "That was worth the shot. You didn't mind, right? I can see why you treat this human being like your messengers."

Kyros furrowed his brows as he looked up and wondered if the Devil was speaking to God.

"Enough with useless talk, let's bring you to the new world that awaits you." The Devil pointed his hand at Kyros and it pushed him into a small black hole that appeared behind him.