To Lucien, Evil was just a matter of perception. To those who were following the law and order the Empire set, anything outside of them was evil. It was not abiding to the standards they followed, and humans were set to exclude anything that diverges from the norm.
While on the other side, from who were deemed 'evil', not everybody actually felt evil. It was just their perspective that seemed correct, or they just didn't care and considered anything that went against their will enemy.
But no matter on which side you were, the insanity that was just a test going down was something that would make everyone uncomfortable.
In one of the villages of the Holy Empire, there was a family of three, they were commoners and didn't have any achievements to show from their life, maybe the only thing would be that the man of the house was a Rank 0 Light Path Practitioner, but even that was achieved through prayers and the help of God.
He was part of the guard of the village and his shift had just ended, late into the night. Switching with his buddies, he planned to go home, pray, and hug is wife while falling asleep. It was a comfortable life he enjoyed.
Opening the door of his home a chill spilled out from inside, to which he shuddered a bit, but paying it no further heed, he walked to the living room where he would pray.
Once he walked inside his expression changed suddenly, and his face turned pale like a ghost.
In the middle of the room his wife and his son were tied up and were crying. On a chair that was in the corner of the room, a figure sat. Only his crimson eyes were visible, and where the whites were supposed to be, it was pitch black.
"Welcome back."
The figure spoke like the situation was completely fine and he was a friend visiting after a long time, but the husband was not in mood to indulge him.
"WHO ARE YOU? WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE?"
"Well, well, don't be so loud now, I just came to see for myself."
The man was going crazy trying to figure out what was going on, but he was still a Practitioner, he didn't attack immediately or act rashly, the abomination in front of him was clearly not normal. Since he already shouted, he kept doing exactly that.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT?"
"You see, I'm interested in that God of yours, he seems to give a lot of hope to your nation."
The man seemed to have calmed down, while he was actually now completely ready to attack at any given notice.
"If you speak ill of God, I will fight you even if it means the deaths of me and my family."
"Such a strong faith and loyalty. You know, I have always seen cruelty and evil as something special, no matter how you rank evil deeds, for me the worst thing possible is not death, heheh. It taking away your hope."
The man suddenly froze, even through he could still think and talk, he couldn't move his body below the head. It was as if his blood took control over everything below. The figure that was concealed in the shadows continued talking as if nothing happened.
"And in this empire, faith in your God is your biggest hope. I want to see if I crush that faith and take away your hope, how far will that get me."
The man smiled when he heard this, it was as if the most ridiculous thing was uttered.
"Hahahah, no matter what you do, there is no way that will happen."
Lucien also smiled and in the shadow now, including the eyes, there was a sinister smile.
"I though as much, so I designed a small game, let's see which is stronger, your faith or your love."
Lucien didn't say anything further, but the man started moving towards the kitchen and soon returned with a knife.
"What are you going to do?"
No matter how many questions the man threw at Lucien, he just kept observing from the side.
The man slowly walked towards his family, and his first action was to cut the gag on his wife, so she could talk.
She just sobbed and tried to hug her husband, to which he responded by pushing her away. Shocked she looked at her normally warm husband, who now had veins bulging all over his body, as if his body was a battlefield.
It was even more shocking to the woman when her husband slowly cut her arm, leaving behind a small wound.
"Why?"
The man was already crying.
"It's not me, I can't control my body."
It didn't matter if she believed him or not as he continued slowly cutting her.
"Please stop, why are you doing this?"
Even through Lucien had already explained, reason was not present in the house, it didn't matter if he asked.
"To see if your God will help his desperate believer."
Lucien was in fact scared of this God, even if he sent an incarnation down, it would be plenty to squish him, but he knew that there is no way this God would be helping each and every common believer.
The man through had a different opinion, he always prayed, he didn't miss even a single prayer, so he was confident in his faith. But as he continued cutting his wife and hearing her sobbing he was starting to get shaken.
It didn't take long for her face to be completely pale due to the blood loss.
"Please God, save me and my family."
The man continued muttering while slashing at his wife, but no matter how much he wished for it, nothing happened. His wife slumped down and breathed her last.
"NOOO!!!"
"This is your faith, you pray and give your loyalty and what do you get in return... heheh, a devil in your house."
The man was completely shaken, both in body and faith. He was not sure about anything anymore.
"So let's continue, your lovely son is next on the list."
The moment this sentence was uttered, all the faith the man had shattered and he lost all hope, he knew that even if he begged and pleaded this thing wouldn't spare them.
And the moment that happened, some intangible aura entered Lucien.
-Devil State: 91% Complete-