Anthony, Piers Incarnations of Immortality 06 For Love of Evil

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Therefore Lila proceeded to the final ploy: she lured Mars to Hell proper. This was accomplished by
telling him of a Princess stranded there, Ligeia by name, who was in need of rescuing. It was true; Parry
had saved Ligeia for just such an occasion, and she was exactly as represented. She was indeed the
perfect match for Mars. Lila had not been pleased to introduce Mars to Ligeia, knowing the likely result,
but at this stage she had no choice.
Sure enough. Mars joined the Princess, came to know her in the course of his attempt to rescue her from
Hell, and fell in love with her. Since she was captive in Hell, so was he, because he would not leave
without her. It was one of Parry's prettiest traps.
Meanwhile, Parry got busy on Earth, freed from Mars' interference. He whipped up the forces of mortal
dissention. Soon he would achieve such violence in the world that martial law would be declared in a
number of governments, among them the American one in which Luna was to become critically active.
That would deprive her of her political position, leaving her powerless to make the key decision that
would mark his final defeat. What a phenomenal ploy this was!
But Mars, showing more mettle than Parry had expected, managed to fashion a ploy of his own. He
incited the damned souls of Hell itself to rebellion. Ozymandias, long in charge of operations, was
caught napping, and the situation was out of hand. Parry had to return to deal with it himself. He had to
keep Mars distracted here just a little longer, until the business on Earth passed the point of no return.
He met Mars physically, when the man was deprived of his magic Red Sword. He could not of course
actually hurt him; no Incarnation could injure another. But he could bluff him, and perhaps convince
him that the infernal revolution was doomed.
But Mars finally caught on, and exploited the weakness of the Incarnation of Evil. "I am going to phase
in with you, Satan," he said. That was one of the powers Mars had, to overlap mortals and read their
minds. "When I do, I will know all your secrets. All that is in your mind."
It was no bluff. Parry had avoided direct physical contact. If Mars grappled with him. Mars would learn
of his activity on Earth, and immediately act to interfere with it. Rather than allow that. Parry had to
back off, though it meant the premature release of a number of souls from Hell. It was a loss he had to
take, in order to preserve the situation on Earth, where the true victory was to be won. So he vacated,
leaving the field to Mars. It was humiliating, but necessary.
Parry made the finishing touches on the Earthly situation. and let it be. It was now in place, and only
heroic action by Mars could reverse it. Had Mars returned earlier, he could have stopped it by routine
means, but it was now beyond that stage. Parry was happy to have Mars depart from Hell now, and did
not attempt to delay him further.
But Mars rose to the occasion once more. He succeeded in reversing the corruption Lila was practicing
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on him, and corrupted her instead. She deserted Parry and fell in love with Mars. She told Mars how to
reverse the ploy and win the victory.
Parry was furious. He had never intended this to happen! The damage was done, but at least he could
punish the demoness. She had never learned the secret of demon-banishing; like other demons, she
would dissipate and be destroyed if he invoked the spell. It was psychological rather than magical; belief
was what made it happen, and she believed. Every Law of Hell had fostered that belief in all demons,
her included, through the millennia. But first he had to get her away from Mars' protection.
He faced Mars again, this time by the great Doomsday clock. He knew what Mars had not known: that
Ligeia had chosen to return to mortality instead of proceeding to Heaven, so that she could be with
Mars. He brought the mortal Ligeia in, offering her in exchange for Lila.
And Ligeia interceded for the demoness. That caused the wavering Mars to decide to save Lila after all.
It was in his power to do so, for he threatened to drive the Doomsday Clock to the dread midnight hour
and precipitate the final war that would destroy all of humanity. Parry could not tolerate that; it had
never been his intent to wipe out mortal man, only to facilitate the classification of souls. He had to back
off again, yielding Lila, much as it galled him to do so. Wrongheaded righteousness had won the day yet
again.
How well he remembered now that when Lilah had deserted his predecessor, Lucifer, it had led to
Lucifer's undoing. Now she had deserted Parry, and the time of his final reckoning with God was
drawing nigh. She might already have contributed to his downfall.
Parry retreated, and Mars took over his office, defusing the situation Parry had so carefully fostered. It
was yet another humiliation. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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