OBD Convo #47: You Still Wanna F*** With Me?!

Chapter 29: The Idea of Evil

"The very best of people? That which makes them worthy of life? Which allows them to grasp towards a purpose to call their own? An adventure unlike any other? It is the poison that will kill them one day. Just as cancer is the abundance of life which leads to death? Just as air which grants life will one day take it? Love will be their end."

- Grandmother Crow

King Gaiseric would dream of her. The person he cherished above all others. The woman he took as his own when he ascended to the throne. That throne which he had fashioned from the remains of those who would dare oppose him. All obstacles brought to heel at last, and flayed in the temple that would become his palace. Their bodies, torn from their skin, would be stuck onto pikes! A spectacle to serve as a grim reminder that just because he was known as a righteous steward? That did not mean he would show his enemies any recourse or redemption.

The rewards of tolerance were always betrayal and treachery, and he had learned that his compassion would become a tool for any rival. A way to invade every sanctuary he worked tirelessly to erect. A ruler could not simply show compassion in all things. They had to have a steady hand, and be willing to make use of violence. It is love that made a people flourish, and it is fear that kept the serpents in their place.

On the dirt with the rest of the refuse.

A tribe of people who had called themselves chosen had been growing in influence. Their greed was unmatched. Their thirst for status unquenchable. They wanted more power, and they would take it from him. Just another thing obstructing his destiny. That is what he thought. Their cult had been growing, and there were agents even in parts of the capital. His capital. The nation he had built was being stolen from him, and he could not rout all of these snakes.

Danan, or The Flower Storm Monarch as some called her, looked just like his beloved. In this era of uncertainty that was the only comfort he still had. That maiden had stood by him, and held him close. Her mysterious talent for magic had been a boon. The young woman had become his advisor in all things paranormal, and then eventually he found himself ensnared by her beauty. The witch had become his wife, and as he learned more about her? He had discovered that her beauty went beyond anything physical, and ventured into the metaphysical. That unconditional love was something that perplexed him, and haunted him every day.

It did not seem natural.

In mortals, of which he governed, love had a limit. The basis of which was equivalent exchange. One party treated the other exactly the same as they would themselves. It could never be anything other than conditional. Whether it was obligation to family, or to a friend who had fought by your side? There had to be something in return. It was never the case with the witch!

Her love did not need to be returned, and she loved with an intensity that many would mistake for madness. Some of the most despicable criminals brought to tears just witnessing it. King Gaiseric had to wonder if they had been doing it all wrong. If the love they practiced was but a shadow of whatever this was.

The Chosen People as they were called? They worshiped a deity no one has ever heard of. In their murals he had seen depictions of it. An enormous heart that was beating in tandem with a swirling vortex, and their high priest; the leader of their flock. The one they had called κανένας. King Gaiseric could not help but feel shaken by it. The intuition he had always trusted? It was going around the bend. Those instincts that had been tempered in war? They were trying to warn him.

However, that love would always be there. That which he had discovered in the witch, and he was at peace. It felt as if there was nothing that he couldn't conquer, and perhaps that had made him weak. That regret had assaulted him as he woke from his slumber. The Skull Knight had dozed off on his horse. He was back in Arlan's Way, and all he could hear were the whispers of the denizens from Elysium. That had migrated to this plane.

They reminded him of her. There was an intrinsic virtue to be found in all of them. That served as an example for mortals. This is what their love could have been like. If only they put in any of the effort.

It was unheard of in a world as harsh as this.

"All of that coin, and here you are sleeping!" I interrupt the musings of the wraith. "What are you doing?"

"You do not pay me at all, Arlan." The Skull Knight grumbles in annoyance. "I was reminiscing, if you must know."

"Perhaps I would provide the coin if you actually did anything!" I take a seat next to him. We were both in the courtyard of the palace. Where I had previously confronted that avatar of Vecna. The night had come to veil my city in darkness, and the moon had revealed itself to illuminate the streets. "I have come seeking answers. I think I have earned them."

"Ask away, Lord Vorlesh." The Skull Knight dismounts from his horse. He would face The Knight Commander. "What piques the interest of a champion?"

"This all began centuries ago, and I think you know where and when it did. Start explaining." I am deadly serious. I wouldn't leave without any answers. "Consider it an order from your Knight Commander."

"If that is the case? Who am I to deny you." The ghost sits down. The Skull Knight massages one of his wrists. One of his gauntlets that would have housed his hand if he still had one.

"Who is Void exactly?" That demon lord who ruled over every other in this plane. Our next target in this crusade I had sanctioned. This grim reaper had bade me to collect on that life.

"A man of the cloth." The Skull Knight answers. "A priest in life. Who thought he had found the truth. They were like the Holy See of today, but they were much closer to realizing what exactly it was they worshiped."

"He didn't?" That is when I turn to look at the lich. "What did he find instead?"

"An opportunity. A way to exploit those who had believed in him." κανένας had cast aside all of his followers. His belief was not shaken, and when his deity made a request of him? He always obeyed without any question. "The Godhand were never the same. Before Void? There were already four of them."

"There were other demon lords in the service of The Idea of Evil?" I had not seen any of them. Had they already perished? "Who was it that destroyed them?"

"Void made them all answer for their disobedience. His faith was unbreakable. Their pact was not. It ended once they turned their sights on their master." That was a lot to take in. Void had fought four demon lords, and even triumphed against them? "Void was not chosen like they were. κανένας had found The Heart of Darkness by himself, and had sought an audience with it. He had bargained for one at the expense of my people."

"They were all branded?" I had to know. How did this bygone iteration of the Kingdom of Midland fall?

"All of them, Knight Commander. No one was spared. The four angels came to my dominion, and left it in ruin when they made their leave. The souls of my people consigned to the Abyss. They became five on that day, but soon they would become as one. When it became apparent that the rest only saw their master as the one holding their leash? They wanted their freedom and fought for it." The Skull Knight nods his head. "I made allies out of some, and I had thought there was a chance. That I could have my revenge. That this grudge of mine could be satisfied. There was not."

"It came to that? That those enemies who partook in the destruction of your empire? They became your allies? Such was your desperation in that moment?" I felt a measure of disapproval, but then I remember Nocticula. Our Lady in Shadow. Had I not allied with demon lords, and forged a truce with these malignant beasts? I could not criticize him.

No more than I could criticize myself.

"I did not have The Sixth Crusade. I did not have a Knight Commander. I had no Godclaw. Nor the love of the divine." The Skull Knight clenches his hands tightly. "I did what I had to do. No more, no less. I was not a champion. I was just another conqueror. Whose only saving grace was the love that he knew." There was more to it. I could feel it.

"What made Void seek out The Heart of Darkness?"

"I did."

I pause at that. I can practically hear the crack in his voice. It was unmistakably shame.

"What did you do, Gaiseric? What torture did you inflict on κανένας?" I look directly into those blazing torches that were The Skull Knight's eyes.

"In that era we did not take kindly to heathens and blasphemers. When I had them at my mercy? I butchered the lot of them, and their parish? I set it ablaze. I spared their high priest only to imprison him in the Tower of Conviction. κανένας became my prisoner, and I exposed him to every punishment I could imagine. I used him to set an example! That none of my enemies might forget to fear King Gaiseric! Only for my cruelty to inspire fear in my own people!" This was difficult for him. The truth was always the greatest challenge to face.

"My beloved tried to impart any kind of mercy in the tyrant that I was, but she had failed. In turn, I had failed her. What happened was my fault, but my people did not deserve to suffer for my mistakes. If he wanted revenge? He only had to sacrifice the monster in front of you. Instead all of my people had to endure worse, and the woman I loved? I had to watch die in my arms." The Skull Knight rises at that. He had answered my question. "May I take my leave, Arlan?"

"Of course, my friend. I have much to mull on." That did explain a lot, but there was still the question of The Idea of Evil. I knew where Void came from, and what made him into what he was, but what about The Idea of Evil?

Where did it begin, and where did it end? I knew the answer to the latter at least. It did not matter where it began.

The ending would be of my own meticulous design.

I would be where it ended.


Flora had seen it all. When The Skull Knight had met her so many years ago? It was a transformative experience. There was a time when she journeyed by his side. They had seen the world together, and what they learned was this: it could not be changed.

The people could change, but it never could. This Earth. This planet which had nurtured life. Only for it to go awry. The apostles. The Godhand. The Idea of Evil. Those monsters were born from the actions of people. No, not just the actions but their hearts. The secrets they would never share. The desires for the taboo. The depravities they kept concealed. The thoughts that would spring forth from their darkest dreams. The inclinations towards violence and mayhem they could not deny. The waking nightmares which had transcended the Astral Plane.

These demons were a reflection of the people. They were part of them. In order to eradicate them? All people had to be changed, and that simply wasn't feasible. There were too many of them, and their nature was that of the profane. There were many who did not want to change, and those that did seek it out? They were far too few...

Righteousness had to be learned. Corruption was the natural state of the world. It was easy to embrace the course of nature. It was an insurmountable challenge to overcome it.

Then, out of all things that could happen, I appeared. The anathema. That which could not give in to nature. That which would challenge all things. I had come to meet the world, and instead of breaking against it? It broke against my resolve.

Flora had thought it a miracle, but now she was not so certain. I was beginning to terrify her. It was not the power that I could wield. It was that flaw within my heart. I would not rest until I had dismantled nature. I would destroy this world. I would destroy any world. If it meant that victory was within reach.

Just more bodies to build into the foundation of my empire. More sacrifices to be made for my illustrious ambition. My cause was undoubtedly just. The path I would have to walk in order to fulfill it?

That was a different story.

I had to ask whether it was worth it. Now on this Golden Throne, and as I surveyed my past? Those disjointed memories that were in disarray had drawn out doubt from within my fractured remains.

"What is it, Flora?" The Skull Knight had come to see her.

"I see something ominous in the horizon." The witch had turned look at her apprentice. Schierke was trying to lecture that thief. Isidro had been caught stealing from the palace again. "Our salvation is certainly at hand, but Arlan Vorlesh has sabotaged his own."

"We all know that he is dying, but it is the choice that he made." King Gaiseric could not deny it. There was nothing they could do for their Knight Commander. I had to meet my death. "We can only ensure that what life he has left was worth it."

"It is not that. It is not that at all." Flora shakes her head. If only they knew. "His journey will not end with that death. He will die three times, and after death comes to claim him on that last inglorious death? He will return once more, and what he will become is no doubt a curse!"

The grievous miracle in all of that horrible splendor that it had. Unrestrained by the mortality I once had.

"This will only be his second death, Flora." King Gaiseric knew that much already. "He will discover a way out of it. Arlan Vorlesh is that kind of person."

"..." The ageing witch becomes silent at that. What The Skull Knight claimed just had to be true, but why did it feel like they were missing something? A detail that had escaped their notice. "I hope that is true, King Gaiseric."

There was another life they knew not of. That I had forgotten. I was not a mortal but a beast.

A crow like any other.


Void was approaching. I could sense it. I did not need to meet the demon lord in his plane of existence. Somehow he had manifested in this realm. Just as Griffith had. As the most powerful of The Godhand? I was not surprised in the least. On my throne in my opulent palace? I waited. I would meet this κανένας.

The Skull Knight was there, and at one of my flanks. The shield I would need. Guts, The White Wolf, had secured his position as my sword. He stood at the other. I did not know what to expect. Just that this would be unpleasant.

When I heard the sound of footsteps? I felt anticipation for what was about to come. What host did this demon lord take? I could only imagine. It must have been a mortal that fit someone of his status. A grizzled war veteran who had rigorously sculpted his body to perfection. A fair maiden with nary a blemish on her ivory skin. It could be anyone.

What I did not expect was a frail and feeble elderly gentleman. He was cloaked in torn rags, and had to make use of a cane just to walk. His hair was a frayed slate, and he looked unkempt. A beard that did not seem to be cared for, but instead let loose to become a disheveled mess. The crusaders cautiously stood by the doors of the throne room. They were suspicious of this guest, but did not sense anything untoward or any kind of intent from him.

Void was an enigma.

"I have come seeking an audience, Arlan Vorlesh. I surrender. On the terms that your crusade against myself, and The Heart of Darkness, comes to an end today." That was not what I was expecting at all. I did not see reason as a possibility. "The condition of this surrender is simple. I am to be left to my own devices, and I will not raise a hand against anyone of Arlan's Way. The Godhand will turn away from your people. They can live as they please, and most importantly of all? Their Knight Commander will not have to die." The highlander removes his hood, and reveals that his eyes had been gouged out. "The only thing I request in return? Is that if people seek us out? They are to be allowed to bargain with us."

κανένας was no fool. The greatest way to defeat an enemy? It would be to give them what they wanted above all else, and even turn them into an ally. He understood that the threat I posed was genuine, and he knew that I cared about these people. That they needed someone like myself to rule over them.

"Why should I believe you would honor this truce? I know what you did with Griffith. How all of you manufactured his fall from grace. This to point that you had it all planned centuries ahead of time. The Godhand has patience, and it employs all methods to turn people to their cause. What of your fate? That which you steer at your discretion. The causality you hold sway over..."

κανένας tilts his head. As if in deep contemplation. Then he finally answers. "I cannot promise that we will not do that again, for we need to replenish our numbers. I am all that is left. What I can promise is that none will befall this in lands that you lord over."

"What if I conquer the world?" I frown in distaste. I did not like this at all. "What if all lands are ones that I lord over?"

"Then this truce cannot happen, Lord Vorlesh." Void answers for me. Once again, I am beginning to feel it. That sensation I knew from the moment I drew breath. That desire above all else which conquered my heart. The yearning for victory. Complete and utter, and with no compromise what to speak of. I wanted to win.

"κανένας, you would come in here and dare parley after what you have done--" The Skull Knight all but roars, but he is interrupted as I speak.

"No." I answer. " I will not accept that kind of peace treaty."

"If you slay all of The Godhand? The Idea of Evil will create others." Void almost seems to give me an inquisitive look. It was hard to tell, because his host had no eyes, but I could determine it from his facial expression.

"The Idea of Evil creates nothing! He can only corrupt." There is venom in my voice. A barely constrained fury. "He can divide! He can separate! He can change! He can refashion! He can never create anything!"

"That will not always be the case." κανένας felt what was like pity when he looked at The Skull Knight. "If I die? He will no longer be a demon lord, but a deity the same as any other one."

That caught my interest.

"What do you mean, κανένας?"

"The Idea of Evil shared an essence of sorts with The Godhand, and from that it grew weaker. It is what made us into demon lords, but with every one of us that you slew? It has reclaimed what was lost. Soon it will become what it once was, and that will pose a problem for you. It took everything you had to defeat Vecna. What chance would you have at your weakest?"

"I would slay it! I would destroy it! I would see it gone!"

"At the cost of every person that resides in this plane."

I froze at that. What did Void know?

"The Heart of Darkness is tied to the life of every mortal. It was born from them all. If you somehow successfully destroy it, despite your impairment, they will go with it into the Abyss." The elderly figure was not distressed or showed any concern for his own life. This was not done out of deceit. He was just stating the obvious. This was the truth, and I could detect no lie.

They would all die.

"There is always a way around that where I come from." I would discover some other way to destroy it. A way to free them all from the ties that bind.

"There was, but you used it already." Void turns to look at Guts, and smiles at him. The White Wolf grimaces in disgust. As if something foul had assaulted his senses. "I had the distinct impression that it would be the last time."

I knew immediately that he spoke of Wish. I had used it to save my namesake. The child that had belonged to Guts. What other way did I have? I had to think. I would not accept anything less but the death of them all. The Godhand had to die. The Idea of Evil had to meet oblivion. I could not let them continue unabated. The same tragedy would repeat itself. This story would have to be told again, and again, and again! It would never ever end.

I had to perform just one more miracle. I had to do more than just change the people. I had to change how the world worked. I had to become something else. Something I had sworn I would never do again. When I had fought Vecna. The ardent grace that took residence inside of Radiance was my only chance.

I did not know if I could handle it. The last stitches around my soul may be torn by the exertion. Before I even had a chance to make use of that power. Then who exactly would stop them?

Perhaps Guts? No, he failed against Vecna. As valiant as his effort was? A fully-fledged deity posed an incredible threat to him. He may wound it, and if he was lucky, even kill it, but at a great cost to himself. He may even die.

My Guts would die. The one I took as my own.

I cannot lose another son!

I could not be hasty. I had to plan. I had to find a loophole. There had to be another way. I had the library of Elysium. I had the knowledge. I needed but the opportunity to look for it.

"I will consider what you have said, κανένας. Where might I find you when I make my decision?" I had to play along for now. I had to stall. That was all I could do. If I bought enough time? I would bring about that last miracle. I had to commune with that solar. This destiny would not prevail against The Sixth Crusade. I would unravel it.

I would claim victory from the jaws of defeat.

"Do not keep me waiting forever, Lord Vorlesh. I will be in the plane known only as Destiny's Embrace." κανένας throws something at me. A crystal of some sort. "Use that to gain entrance to my dominion."

I catch it before it can fall to the ground.

Void was unlike the rest. There was no fear. Nor even hatred or envy. Just resignation to it all, and the fate that he had chosen for himself. He had accepted it. That was what it meant to believe in his resplendent master.

His destiny was never his own, and that was just fine by him.


I was in the library going over everything. How exactly would I deal with The Idea of Evil? Void could be handled like any other demon lord, but his master had been born from the people. They would die with him if I somehow managed to win.

The tomes and grimoires of Elysium at my disposal, but I could not find anything. There were many spells, but none of them had the flexibility that I needed. I had to sever whatever connection The Heart of Darkness had with the people, and then I could deal the blow that would end it. A Warding Bond perhaps? I could tie their lives to Guts. An immortal like him would certainly be unaffected by this. He had no relationship to this deity. Instead it was that Fenrir who held ownership of his soul.

The problem was how many people I needed to cast it on. There were millions if not billions of people across this sphere. This was impossible for anyone. I don't even think Elminster himself could manage a spell like this!

I could cast it on maybe a hundred thousand or so, but even I would have difficulty after that. My power was such that I could embolden entire armies with my magic. This was no army though. It was a species.

"What am I going to do?" I was at a loss. The options I had were dwindling. I might have to rely on the solar, and that was no guarantee. I could die, and then what would I achieve?