American Horror Story, Starting from Falls Town

Chapter 502 The Kingdom of Stars
This is actually the Arrogant Royal Palace?

Roy was very surprised. This palace was far inferior to the luxurious palaces of Belial and Asmodeus that Roy had seen, let alone the palace of the old serpent Leviathan.

It was so simple that Roy thought it was just an ordinary house that was a bit larger.

"Mr. Black, you seem surprised?"

"Ahem! I've been to other demon kings' palaces before, and yours seems a bit different from theirs."

Lucifer smiled and shook his head.

"I don't really like that kind of luxurious decoration; it makes me feel uncomfortable. White is much better."

It seems that Lucifer still can't forget his life in Heaven. Although he keeps saying bad things about Heaven, he still retains many of his habits from there.

Lucifer led Roy to sit down by a huge pool.

"Want to drink?"

Roy nodded.

Lucifer quickly conjured several bottles and began mixing drinks.

Before long, the clear, amber-colored liquid was poured into Roy's glass.

Roy remembered that this wine was the Sin Wine that Lucifer gave him when they first met.

Roy remembered that he almost messed up when he drank this Sin Wine last time. This time, Lucifer seemed to have added something else. The amber-colored liquid of the Sin Wine had some colorful luster, which was very dazzling.

"Is this the wine of original sin?"

"Yes! The Sin Wine we gave you last time was the regular version. This is the real, complete version of the Sin Wine. You can try it."

Roy raised an eyebrow. If the regular version of the Original Sin Wine is this potent, wouldn't the full version be even more terrifying?
However, Roy's strength is no longer what it used to be, and he is not afraid of even the full version of the Sin Wine.

Pick up the glass and down it in one gulp!

Instantly, Roy felt as if he had drunk something other than alcohol.

That's right! The Sin Wine hadn't even entered Roy's stomach before it vaporized in his throat.

This situation prompted Roy to let out a rainbow-colored burp.

Meanwhile, the gas produced by the sin wine did not enter Roy's stomach, but instead went directly into his brain through the blood vessels in his throat.

In that instant, Roy felt as if he were floating on air, and his body emitted various colors of light in succession.

First comes red (wrath), then cyan (gluttony), followed by blue (greed), then brown (envy), purple (sloth), yellow (pride), and finally pink (lust).

Compared to Roy, who only had the original sin of lust in the human world, Roy, after spending some time in hell, can be said to have all the vices.

However, Roy was unaware of his own changes; only Lucifer noticed the constant shifts in color on his body and showed a grave expression.

"This liquor really has a strong effect!"

Roy put down his glass and exhaled. As long as one's body can withstand the Sin Wine, or if one does not possess any original sin, then one can experience the wonder of the Sin Wine.

Lucifer merely gave Roy a faint smile in response to his praise.

"Mr. Black, would you like to see the results of my nearly ten thousand years of work in the Kingdom of Stars?"

Roy was indeed quite curious about what Lucifer was doing by sealing off the second layer of Hell. According to the old man Nephilim, Lucifer was conducting an experiment. So what kind of experiment was it?

"Appreciate further details."

Lucifer snapped his fingers, and a projection of a white planet appeared on the huge pool next to him.

"This is the first planet I created. I established a country of absolute order based on the system of Heaven. The residents must do everything according to the rules, even down to whether to use the fork or the spoon first when eating. To ensure that the residents live in accordance with the rules, the highest council of the ruling class of this planet has set up strict laws and uses drones to monitor the residents at all times."

Roy saw that the demons in the projection were all lifeless, just like robots.

"But I soon discovered that this kind of life was making the kingdom lifeless, and the population of the country was decreasing until it was on the verge of extinction. So I created another planet, modeled after hell."

Another red planet appeared in the projection, filled with killing, war and destruction.

Even though Roy was very knowledgeable, he still felt somewhat uncomfortable.

"This planet is like a replica of hell, or a more chaotic world than hell, because there is no power in this world that can truly rule everything."

Upon hearing Lucifer's description, Roy showed a thoughtful expression.

Although Hell is extremely chaotic, it still maintains a certain degree of order due to the existence of the Seven Demon Kings.

The Seven Demon Kings set rules in their own territory, so no matter how strange those rules were, the demons still had to abide by them.

This is why, despite their peculiarities, each level of hell has developed its own unique civilization.

However, the red planet created by Lucifer was completely devoid of any civilization, only naked savagery; you could even consider them to be beasts.

"These two failures made me realize that going to extremes wouldn't create a normal world, so I started fine-tuning the first planet and created the third one."

Lucifer then projected a third gray planet.

The demons on this planet are actually very similar to humans; they have basic freedoms just like humans and are bound by laws.

But like humans, this planet is also subject to terrible wars from time to time, wars powerful enough to destroy an entire civilization.

Because there is no deterrent like nuclear weapons, the intensity of war on this planet is much greater; a world war could easily halve the population.

"What's happening on this planet made me realize that the predatory instinct of living beings is ingrained in their DNA, so I wondered if we could solve this problem by changing the form of living beings?"

Lucifer projected a fourth planet, a black planet completely devoid of any life.

Upon closer inspection, Roy realized why the planet was devoid of life. It turned out that Lucifer had not released any normal demons onto the planet this time, but had instead left behind silicon-based life forms, with large numbers of dark rocks walking on the land.

These stone figures clearly did not build a civilization as Lucifer had envisioned, because they lacked the desire to plunder and therefore had no interest in progress.

So they all lay flat on the planet, since silicon-based life forms consume very little energy, which is why the planet is so desolate and lifeless.

Silicon-based life forms have no interest in building a beautiful home; this dark planet is like a giant junkyard, where even green plants have gone extinct.

Seeing this, Roy was speechless.

"Lucifer, aren't there any successful examples?"

Upon hearing this, Lucifer sighed and projected the fifth planet.

"There are indeed some success stories, but they are too successful."

It was a golden sphere, and to Roy's surprise, the planet had no physical form at all; instead, it was a massive accumulation of energy, much like a star. However, judging by its size, it was definitely not the size of a star; even small stars were much larger than it.

Furthermore, Roy did not observe any life on this planet, neither carbon-based demons nor silicon-based stone men.

"This is just an energy aggregate. Where are the success stories you mentioned?"

"Actually, this energy aggregate is what I was talking about as life!"

"what?"

Roy was very surprised.

"In order to succeed once, I created a planet with incredibly abundant resources and designed the most perfect life form. These beings possess extraordinary intelligence, are born with the ability to connect mentally, and can understand each other, thus successfully establishing a brilliant civilization. I once thought my experiment was about to succeed."

However, one day, this civilization accidentally observed my existence, and that changed everything.

Roy raised an eyebrow, roughly guessing what had happened next.

"This civilization began to study my existence. At first, I thought it was very interesting, like my own child imitating and learning from me. To this end, I began to show a portion of my power, but this action instilled fear in some of them. This fear caused the civilization to split, with one faction believing that I was their ultimate form, and the other believing that my existence would lead to their utter destruction."

A war broke out between the two factions, with the Fear faction ultimately emerging victorious. They began to consolidate all the planet's resources to defeat me, whom they believed would destroy the world. As a result, all remaining life in this civilization separated their spirits from their bodies, merging into a single, powerful spiritual entity, and energizing the entire planet, transforming it into the 'thing' we see today.

Roy could see the clear remorse on Lucifer's face; it was obvious that this was the result of the other's arrogance.

If Lucifer hadn't exposed himself during his observation, the fifth planet wouldn't be what it is today.

However, the mistake has already been made, and the civilization before us has become an unconscious, enormous, and chaotic spiritual energy entity.

(Equivalent to psionic entities in the game Stellaris)
This is clearly inconsistent with the civilization Lucifer wanted to create.

"Mr. Black, what do you think is the way to create a truly perfect civilization?"

The fifth failure left Lucifer physically and mentally exhausted, so there was no sixth planet.

Faced with the arrogant king's question, Roy began to carefully consider his words; the question was clearly not so simple.

Perhaps Lucifer wasn't asking the question in the literal sense.

"I think every civilization has its own unique charm, and excessive intervention from God's perspective may not be a good choice."

Lucifer looked at Roy, his expression turning somewhat surprised.

"Why do you think that? Your civilization has also experienced God's intervention!"

"So God stopped interfering with the Earth after that, right? Since the late Middle Ages, humanity has taken control of its own destiny. Although the situation on Earth is not very good now, I still have hope."

Roy's words seemed to startle Lucifer for a moment.

"So you think it's right to let mortals grow unchecked?"

Roy looked directly into Lucifer's eyes.

"No one can make decisions for someone else. Some people may like to live a life arranged for them, but I think most people still want to live the life they want."

Lucifer remained silent. The arrogant king had always been accustomed to deciding the lives of others; it was simply his nature.

"Perhaps you are right, I am indeed not qualified to decide other people's lives."

As he spoke, Lucifer transformed into several bottles of liquor and began mixing drinks for Roy. Soon, a glass of gray liquor was placed in front of Roy.

"This glass of wine is called life, let's drink it together!"

What a somber wine name.

Roy picked up his glass and downed it in one gulp. The initial notes were very sweet, but the middle notes were a mixture of sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, and salty flavors, which immediately made him look like an old man on the subway with his phone.

Fortunately, the final notes are still sweet, although not as sweet as the top notes, but they can wash away the complex flavors you feel in the middle.

"how?"

"It is indeed as complex as life! But I'm a little curious, you seem to have never experienced human life, so how did you mix this kind of drink?"

Lucifer laughed heartily.

"You don't actually think I went to Los Angeles to open a bar just for fun, do you?"

It seems Roy guessed wrong about the Arrogant King's purpose in coming to the human world. This guy was probably just there to experience life and gather new experimental inspiration.

"Mr. Lucifer, we've had enough to drink. I'd like to travel to the Prison of Spirits via the Kingdom of Stars. Could you possibly escort me there?"

The smile on the arrogant king's face vanished instantly.

"I'm sorry, Blake, although we are friends, I can't let you go."

"why?"

“I swore to the old man that I would never let any demon leave Hell through here.”

Upon hearing this, Roy frowned deeply.

"But I'm not a demon! I'm human!"

"Roy Black, take a good look at yourself. Apart from not being born in hell, what's the difference between you and a demon from hell?"

Lucifer directly exposed Roy's true situation, because he had been in Hell for too long and had become tainted with too much of Hell's aura.

Roy's death and rebirth in the Ancient Sea also allowed his body to undergo some of the modifications imposed by the rules of Hell.

Roy, as one of the parties involved, was unaware of these things, but Lucifer saw them clearly.

"In reality, you are already a great demon king who has gathered all seven original sins!"

"No! I am human, I am definitely not a demon!"

Roy couldn't accept Lucifer's statement. He insisted that he was not a demon, and if he wasn't human, he was a Nephilim.

"Lucifer, take me to Hell! There are still many people on Earth waiting for me!"

Lucifer shook his head.

"Letting you go to Earth would be the greatest danger to the planet!"

Realizing that Lucifer truly didn't want him to pass, Roy stood up.

"So it seems that only by defeating you can I proceed to the Spirit Book Prison?"

(End of this chapter)