Little Pink Starfish

Why was evil created?

The Star Hated by All had pondered this question for a long time.

The Savior Who Is One and All positioned Himself as the embodiment of goodness and thus created evil in contrast. Without evil, goodness could not be solidified. In constructing this world, the existence of demons was indispensable. Just as the heavens exist because there is earth, Hell was necessary because there was the celestial realm.

And so he realized: the reason the Savior Who Is One and All cast him into Hell was not only to dispose of a being that opposed Him but also, ironically, to honor him by placing him in a realm diametrically opposed to His own absolute good.

<Thus, Hell was my domain, and my detestable Father assigned me the role most fitting for me.>

How ironic.

The Star Hated by All murmured bitterly with a faint smile.

“You say you’ve come to save me…”

The Demon God spoke in a quiet voice.

“What do you mean by that?”

<Exactly as I said. You have taken countless lives and plunged numerous beings into sorrow. Therefore, no constellar being could possibly save you.>

“I acknowledge that. Salvation is something that should never be given to me.”

The Demon God readily agreed to The Star’s words. Salvation was a term that felt as distant to her as the celestial realm. Born not as a sinner cast into Hell but as a demon who had always existed within Hell, there was no salvation for her kind. What god would ever save a demon? Why does the word salvation carry such a strange sense of sanctity?

“I have never once desired salvation since the moment I was born. Nor have any of the demons who invaded the human world alongside me.”

We never sought salvation.

We invaded the human world to save ourselves.

The Demon God muttered.

“I must ask you, Archangel Who Cast Down the King of Hell.”

The Demon God turned her gaze toward the Archangel.

“You and your kind were destined from birth to sit beside the Savior Who Is One and All. Every angel was designed to embody goodness under the Creator’s light. It was your Father who assigned your place and symbolism, was it not?”

<What are you implying?>

The Archangel’s eyes sharpened.

“It’s a simple matter.”

The Demon God smiled.

“We demons were destined to enact evil. That was the will of the Savior Who Is One and All. We were created to eventually be defeated by you, serving as an obstacle to humanity’s progress. Invading the human world was undoubtedly a sin, but as beings designed to commit sin…”

I have never once felt shame.

The Demon God spoke hoarsely.

“I have taken countless lives, caused countless tragedies, insulted this world in myriad ways, and my ambitions were shared by countless demons. We gathered in malice to save ourselves, rejecting the very notion of salvation from gods.”

How is it a sin for creatures created to represent evil to enact evil?

The Demon God questioned the Archangel.

<That is…>

“Don’t misunderstand. I am not asking you. Our actions were certainly sinful. That is the providence set forth by the Savior Who Is One and All.”

It is natural for the strong to dictate law.

Since the Savior Who Is One and All created this world, He alone set its rules. The Demon God did not question this fact. Nor did she seek to deny it. Being ruled by the strong was, in a way, the most hellish form of order—and that was the law under which she had grown.

<Indeed.>

The Star Hated by All nodded.<We have no authority to defy those laws.>

“But you tried to defy them, didn’t you?”<I failed.>

The Star smiled as he answered the Demon God’s question.

<My rebellion was a complete failure. From the start, I knew it would fail. I am but a creature made by the Savior Who Is One and All. What I sought was not His throne, but to witness His response when a blade was raised against Him. In that sense, your path and mine are entirely different.>

The Demon God understood what The Star meant.

He had not rebelled in hopes of success. What he needed was the act of rebellion itself against the absolute being. Success or failure was irrelevant—it was to be remembered as the one who raised a sword against the Creator. And it all stemmed from a single question.

“You were simply… curious.”

The Demon God muttered.

<Exactly. I am not so great that you should look up to me.>

The Star’s voice grew softer.

<Just as my Father, the Savior Who Is One and All, became insignificant to me, I too have no qualities worthy of admiration.>

The Demon God had admired The Star.

He had defied the Savior’s ordained goodness—fundamentally questioning the laws governing this world.

“Is the Creator truly good?”

That was the question the Demon God had come to realize through The Star.

“I believed… that was a question necessary for Hell.”<You are mistaken.>

The Star shrugged.

<You were not meant to question the Creator’s goodness. Nor to defy the constellars’ authority. Nor to invade the human world, nor to justify all your actions by claiming you were created to do so.>

Are demons evil?

The Star now posed the question to the Demon God.<You never answered that question for yourselves.>

“What do you mean…?”

<Because you were evil, invading the human world was natural; because you were evil, defying the constellars was natural; because you were evil, being cast into Hell by the Savior Who Is One and All was the natural consequence. But those assumptions only obscured your existence. Before committing all those acts, you demons should have questioned yourselves: Are we truly evil? Were we truly created that way? And was there no way to change that evil?>

A sigh slipped through The Star’s lips.

<Listen well, Demon God.>

He whispered into her ear.

<The Savior Who Is One and All is the Creator. But He is not perfect. What in this world is perfect? Is the celestial realm truly a paradise? Is eternal life under His immaculate order truly happiness?>

<No, it is not.>

The Archangel finally spoke.

<Once, I believed it was a righteous duty from on high. But after meeting you, brother, I came to doubt. Our rules were built upon duty—but that did not mean we had to find happiness within them.>

I…

I suffered when I lost you, he whispered.

<At times… I wondered if it would have been better to fall into Hell with you.>

<That is how it is, Demon God.>

The Star smiled.

<Is the human world a paradise to you? Where countless beings entangle with one another, where countless mortals die every moment, where insects perish, animals are abandoned, humans starve and simultaneously die from gluttony—did this seem like paradise to you?>

“I… I…”<This world is not perfect. Do not be deceived by words like heaven or hell. We will suffer endlessly in this imperfect world.>

“But…!”

The Demon God shouted.

“What does any of that change? There is no god in Hell! Gods exist in the human world and in the celestial realm, but not in Hell. My Father, you could have been that god. You could have been the god who watched over demons, who killed each other and themselves. But you chose to become a tyrant instead! You claimed that by ruling the only godless domain in existence, you would not be a god but a king!”

The Demon God’s lips trembled with grief.

She glared up at The Star, her eyes filled with desperate emotion.

“Did we… look that wretched to you?”

<No.>

The Star shook his head.

<I simply could not become a god. I could not unify you, grant you a standard, or create a new order you could follow. I had already rebelled against the Savior Who Is One and All who had imposed all such systems. For one who questioned all of that, it was impossible to shepherd you.>

But you did what I could not.

The Star whispered, placing his hand gently atop the Demon God’s head.

<You rallied the demons through their resentment, forged malice into ambition, claimed territory where gods existed, and held your forces together despite slaughtering countless others. To the human world, you were a disaster—but to Hell, you were a blessing.>

That is why.

That is why I sought you out.

<The Savior Who Is One and All, the constellars beside His throne, and all creatures illuminated by their light will never forgive you.>

But it does not matter. I will forgive you.

The Star’s whisper echoed in the Demon God’s ears.<Understand this: it is through my forgiveness that your punishment becomes complete.>

His words were true.

The Demon God trembled, making a face more tormented than ever.

She looked as though she might collapse at any moment.<And remember this.>

Through my forgiveness, your salvation begins.

The Star’s voice scattered upon the night breeze.

<My successor—the first god born from Hell.>