ADAM, who had essentially given this demon ‘birth’ into his world, knew every detail of Baal’s story. And so, they knew that eventually, this day would come, when Baal would be brazen enough to enter the Labyrinth.

ADAM, who could see into the hearts and minds of all that brought themselves to the test, had been prepared for a very long time.

Stepping into the black hole, Baal emerged a moment later into an inky black void that stretched out infinitely. Baal was intrigued, he had faith that ADAM was not so foolish to think that the Demon King could be trapped in some sort of alternate world-prison.

There were not even stars to provide any light. Everything was cold and empty.

A single golden light blossomed before the demon.

“What do you desire?” ADAM’s voice asked Baal.

“Power. Absolute power.” Baal replied. He was utterly sincere; ADAM knew this.

“We shall see.” Spoke ADAM, disappearing just as abruptly as he had appeared.

In the darkness, Baal stretched out his presence. And it was there he felt it; an inanimate object. A machine, small enough to fit within the hand of a grown man. Seizing it with his soul, the demon possessed it, and understood its every function.

It was a certain machine designed by ancient humans with the most remarkable ability; the power to control probability.

Though Baal had no knowledge of quantum physics, he did not need to know. He intuitively understood the power which now rested with him. The power of creation. The power of the infinite.

The power of God himself, perhaps.

And so, Baal created.

He created stars to light up the infinite darkness. He created worlds. He created oceans and mountains and everything in between. Forests of stone, wood, and mushroom. Plains of grass, tundra, and sand. Rich valleys flowing with water and wealth. Archipelagos of golden sun. Glaciers of endless frost.

But despite all the power he held, it meant little without the worship and adoration, the praise and consternation. He needed to create intelligent life.

He began small. A rodent, made from his memory. Everything was as he remembered, the fur, skin, muscle, heart, brain, and other organs were all present. He set its lifeless heart into motion, and at once it sprang to life. A soul occupied its body, rendering it immune to further quantum tampering. It seemed that Universal Law still applied here, a fact that perplexed the demon. In this lifeless universe, who had wished the law into existence?

Nevertheless, finding that he was capable of producing complex, intelligent life, Baal began the work of populating the first world he had created. But after the third rat, he realised that it would take centuries, if not millennia, of painstaking work to populate the entire world to the complexity and quantity he saw fit.

So, Baal used the Probability Controller to create a duplicate of itself. He programmed one to create rats and duplicated it thousands of times. Thousands of rats burst forth into existence at once, scattering across the verdant fields.

In such a manner, Baal populated his world with all manner of complex creatures with minimal effort, modifying his production line as required. Birds took to the sky, fish into the waters.

The machines themselves required power. Only small amounts, but with the scale of Baal’s operations, it added up, and Baal did not want to be forced to stay physically near the devices in order to provide power from his own spirit.

If Baal had access to the scientific knowledge of the Incandestine, he may have made a miniature sun and surrounded it with solar cells to create a Dyson Sphere providing far more power than he would ever need. As it was, the best he could manage was hydroelectric turbines modelled after the ones found in Crassian dams on Apolaphia.

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The last creatures Baal created were humans.

In the savannah, he created a man.

Setting his heart into motion. Baal waited until the man opened his eyes.

“Worship me.” Those were the two words Baal first spoke to his creation.

The man fell back in dumb fear. Unable to even articulate. Indeed, his creation lacked even the knowledge to speak.

Baal noticed the barest, most disappointing trickle of power from the human he had created. It was not enough; indeed, it was far less than he had expected. Was it because the human could not comprehend the true significance of the demon before it?

A temporary setback.

It was not in Baal’s nature to be an educator, or even a nurturer or guardian. He was a conqueror. But how many years would it take for the humans to develop a more complex society or even agriculture? Perhaps he should possess the body of one, and accelerate their society…

Such thoughts were passing through Baal’s mind even as his first man trembled on the ground before him.

Baal sent a fraction of his essence forward, possessing the man and putting him to sleep.

Baal created for himself a flying castle above a rainforest overlooking the birthplace of the first man and set himself within that castle. He created a small settlement of rudimentary shelters around the unconscious man. That would be the first pen in which the human cattle would be raised.

The demon king set half of his Probability Controllers to create men, and half to create women. He would start with one thousand and one individuals. Without agriculture, science, technology, or history, they would have nothing but animalistic instincts to survive.

If there was one thing Baal understood well about humans, it was that they weren’t the most creative creatures, but they were excellent at copying others. Perhaps they would have the common sense to use and copy the structures and tools Baal had left them.

In any case, his new base above the rainforest allowed him to keep a close eye on his creations. He would not allow them to die of hunger or thirst. He would provide them sustenance if they absolutely needed it. Not out of any love, but only as a means to the end of receiving their reverence and greater power.

Time passed by. Baal locked himself away, planning the future expansion of his empire and strategies to dominate the future humans who would eventually try to threaten his reign. Baal tried using magic to supplement his powers, but ADAM would not answer his prayers. Perhaps ADAM did not exist in this universe or was deliberately opposing the Demon King’s endeavours. It was no matter. Baal had complete confidence in himself.

The fiery demon would periodically visit the humans he made, ensuring their subservience to him. They required little convincing, having often wondered in mystery about the castle flying above their city. They would stand in complete awe of the demon’s ability to conjure food out of thin air when famine struck. Baal decided that he would hold a feeding festival for them every 50 years. That was as often as the immortal could stomach entertaining the ants by throwing breadcrumbs onto their nest.

It took only a few thousand years for the humans to develop more advanced technology, religion and culture. Time was nothing to the ageless demon, who simply waited, feeling his power growing with the size of the population he lorded over. Their lord was tempted to demand tribute from them but was distasteful of the idea of having to quash any rebellions that would inevitably arise. No matter, letting the humans have more resources would only accelerate their growth as a species.

The attitude of the humans towards Baal had remained largely unchanged. Most of them regarded him as their God. A deserved title. Many tried to approach the Demon’s castle, seeking wisdom, or purpose for their existence.

“You exist to worship me and prosper.” That was all their creator would say, sending his voice booming down upon the most insistent.

On rare occasions, parties of more adventurous humans would approach Baal’s castle, seeking to topple their absentee ruler. At first, they approached only with sticks and spears. Later as technology developed, some tried trebuchets and other siege weaponry. All failed to even make a scratch. Regardless of their practical threat, Baal made sure only scraps of such dissidents remained, delivered to their homes as reminders of what would become of any others who spurned their master.

The humans’ societies and technologies advanced at a rapid pace, helped with some guidance from Baal himself. Interestingly, they were not unified under their one lord, with different factions and nations arising to claim and specialise in the processing of certain resources. Baal had no mind to interfering in their politics. War was the mother of invention, after all.

Soon, seeing the humans learn to create more advanced materials such as plastics, steel and titanium alloys, he decreed unto them a new purpose: to invent teleportation, so that he may allow his creations to spread across the infinite universe. That was the primary conundrum for the Demon King; he had no scientific knowledge, and humanity would be far faster than he at discovering the secrets of the universe. The Probability Controllers allowed him to create whatever he could imagine, or whatever he had a deep knowledge of. But he had no knowledge of the unknown.

If not for Universal Law, Baal would have simply transported his humans by himself to new worlds to further expand his empire. The alternative solution to the problem of populating the universe with loyal worshippers would be to endlessly create worlds populated by dumb human beings. But Baal was not patient enough for something like that. No, he decided that it would be far more efficient to transplant established species from a single planet. That way, he would have greater control over their development, technologically, culturally or otherwise.