Phronemachos is an ordinary man, neither a philosopher nor a hero, but a humble soul caught in the ceaseless cycle of life. Though he toils daily, an emptiness lingers in his heart. One winter night, he finally finds contentment—only to be interrupted by the desperate pleas of a freezing beggar at his door. Enraged at having his peace disturbed, Phronemachos cruelly denies him shelter, invoking divine indifference as justification. The beggar perishes outside, but not before cursing Phronemachos to a life devoid of peace. As dawn breaks, the world itself seems to accuse Phronemachos of murder. The elements grow hostile, and the burden of guilt settles upon him. Haunted by the beggar’s specter, he spirals into despair, tormented by unanswerable questions. Seeking solace, he encounters a monk who preaches that all actions, even his crime, are ultimately dictated by God’s will. This revelation ignites a furious rebellion within him—if God controls all, then it is He who is guilty of the beggar’s death. Phronemachos storms into a temple and, in defiance, hurls a stone at an idol, rejecting divine justice altogether. Yet, when he triumphantly declares his newfound truth to the beggar’s ghost, the specter cryptically responds: If God does it all, who is it that defied? As his suffering intensifies, Phronemachos is cast into a nightmare of endless torment, where he is devoured alive by a demonic force—only to regenerate and be consumed again. He pleads for mercy, but the demon, revealing its own history of rebellion, offers no comfort. The injustice of fate, it claims, is arbitrary and cruel, punishing some for mere trifles while letting greater sinners roam free. But even the devil, once a servant of the gods, suffered and rebelled in vain. Phronemachos, trapped in an existence dictated by forces beyond his control, is left to question: Is justice real, or is all suffering merely the product of a blind and indifferent fate? And if fate is unchangeable, what, then, is left to defy?