The Lord of Benevolence
As told by Morisato Keiichi

Chapter 3 - Lord of Terror

After all that preparation the actual conversion of the Lord of Terror was anticlimactic. If I had not prepared so thoroughly it would have turned out quite differently.

The Lord of Terror lay on the floor, in a barely conscious state. I had been surprised at how big he was. In his preferred body he was just over two meters tall and would have problems going through most mortal doorways. His dark bronze skin and muscular build reminded me somewhat of Urd-kun. There was a large open gash in his left side where Skuld's magnet had begun to erase his substance. He heard a voice say, "That's got to hurt," and then felt a healing spell skillfully repair the damage.

Collecting his wits, he managed to say, "Thanks," and then he opened his eyes. When he could focus, he saw a familiar face and a very unfamiliar aura. "Morisato? I thought you were a mortal. What..."

I answered, "My Lord, when we last met I also thought I was a mortal. We were both wrong. You've been dead for five years, and much has changed." I'd been given a complete course in demon etiquette. It didn't take very long at all.

The Lord of Terror sat up and looked around. To my eyes our surroundings resembled the interior of a modern hospital. He said, "I'm in Hell."

"I thought you might be more comfortable in familiar surroundings," I explained.

He looked at me. "I thought your kind wasn't allowed in Hell."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? Just what kind is my kind?"

He examined my aura, compared it to every type he knew, and found no matches. "I give up. Morisato, what are you?"

"I was hoping you could tell me," I said wistfully, "I've found no label or category that seems to fit me properly."

He looked at me and said, "You brought me back from the dead, didn't you? Why?"

I tried to phrase my answer carefully. "Perhaps I owe you a favor, because I learned a lot from the experience of being possessed by you. I regret that we had to kill you because anyone with your power and ability shouldn't go to waste. Finally, your demons need you. They've been disorganized without an effective leader, demoralized because the least of the gods is now more magically effective than the greatest of the demons, and they're fearful because powerful and unpredictable forces are loose in creation."

As if proving my point, a disconsolate demon shambled by, paying no attention to us at all. I had used a spell to keep us from communicating with or being noticed by the resident demons. The Lord of Terror was disturbed by my description of the sorry state of the demons. He conducted a quick scan of Hell and found matters were even worse than I had described.

"How did this happen? How could things get so bad in only five years?"

I answered carefully again, "My Lord, I'm responsible. It's taken me a little over two years because I needed some time to adapt to my new powers."

He stared at me for a while, his expression unreadable. Finally he asked, "What do you want of me?"

"Lord, for the next few months you'll be my pupil, and I'll teach you how to increase your abilities significantly. Then you'll lead the demons out of darkness and despair into light and hope. Eventually, I expect you and I will become good friends."

The Lord was incredulous. "I have no need for teachers or friends," he declared.

I smiled slightly and responded, "My Lord, in about a year I may quote that back to you, and we'll both have a good chuckle over it."

After a brief pause he said, "When you mentioned 'out of darkness into light,' you meant you want me to convert the demons into good little boys and girls."

I nodded. "If I didn't think you were smart, I'd have left you dead."

He began to lose his composure. "That's impossible! A 'good demon' is a contradiction in terms. They'd rather die first. I'd rather die first!"

I replied rather sternly, "Lord, you have no choice. I've given you as much freedom as I could, but where my plan would be imperiled you have no options." I continued more gently, "I know for a fact that it's possible to reform a demon, because I've already done it. I can even reform you, and you'll thank me for it some day."

That was too much for the Lord of Terror. The hall rang with menacing demonic laughter. He glowered at me and said, "Do you mind if I thank you in advance?"

I knew what was coming, for I had spent months training for it and felt well prepared. "Go ahead," I said with a slight smile, "I don't mind."

The battle that followed was most unusual. For 50 minutes the Prince of Demons hit me with everything he could think of that had any chance of success, while I made no attempt to stop him or retaliate, and hardly any visible attempt at self defense. A few of his spells I remember were:

The Triple Constricting Helix of Pain--or the DNA from Hell. They were supposed to inflict deadly levels of pain upon contact, but they had a weakness. I reached out with my bare hands and broke off a piece, then gingerly tasted it. I made a face, it was too sour, and threw it away. The remainder of the spell shriveled up and blew away on contact with my body. This spell was ineffective against anyone with enough love in his heart.

The Shears of Delight--well if pain doesn't work... Nice try, but I had been making love to four wonderful goddesses for several years now, and it would take more than this spell to overload my ecstasy circuits.

The Planes of Geometry--Imagine being embedded in a five-dimensional Rubik's Cube with random permutations. Fortunately, I had a half dozen spare selves out in the real world, so I had a frame of reference and a link to follow. I just stepped out of the trap and back to where I had been.

The Grapes of Wrath--little purple globes with the appetite of a pac-man and the teeth of a piranha. I turned them into raisins and ate them before they could eat me.

Seeing that sophisticated spells caused me no damage at all, the Lord of Terror tried brute force. He hit me with a concentrated blast of energy containing enough mana to vaporize several entire solar systems. When the pyrotechnics died I was sitting there undamaged and unruffled, however my aura showed a considerable increase in magical power and glowed more brightly than before.

I said quietly, "You don't have to hold back for my sake, Lord."

He clenched his fists in frustration, glowered at me, and rumbled, "I wasn't holding back."

I sighed and replied, "That shows how badly you need my tutoring. With all that power you should have been able to hurt me at least this much," and sent him a pinprick of pain in one thumb. He didn't flinch. I waxed philosophical for a moment. "Life can be so unfair at times. With all your anger, you can't hurt me. You can't even annoy me. On the other hand, I can hurt you and have absolutely no desire to do so. This mismatch between desire and ability can be frustrating at times."

I gathered together all the energy that I had absorbed while he was attacking me and offered it to him. "Here, you need this more than I do." This gesture was intended to demoralize the Lord. His immense magical power had been central to his image of himself, and important to his self-esteem. By giving it away I was suggesting that his power was of no value, and by extension he himself wasn't significant. Then I performed a healing and restorative spell.

"Do you feel Okay now?" I asked. He nodded, obviously disoriented by my behavior. This wasn't the way an opponent was supposed to act. I responded, "Good. Now it's my turn."

I slowed him down. Let me explain that. I cast a first stage spell whose sole function was to replace the second stage spell whenever needed. The second stage spell constructed or reconstructed the third stage spell as needed. The third stage spell drew its power from the Demonic Source and used it to slow down and confine the Lord of Terror. Each part of his mental, physical, and magical selves was slowed down by a random factor ranging from 3 to 40, with no two adjacent parts having the same slowdown factor. This made it completely impossible for him to coordinate or act effectively at any level. The second and third stage spells were designed to self-destruct after one second, so they'd frequently be replaced with new ones. The first stage spell would construct each new second stage spell with different random slowdown factors, so every third stage spell was unique, and he could never adapt to a steady situation.

It took the Lord half an hour, by my time, to realize that he could partially nullify my spell by slowing all of himself sufficiently. After another half-hour he concluded that he could neither destroy nor escape from my spell. I waited patiently. Two hours later he knew that he had been defeated, but couldn't bring himself to admit it. At that point I canceled my spell to spare him further discomfort.

He collected his wits for a moment, then said with grudging admiration, "That was a most effective spell, Morisato."

"Actually, it can easily be improved upon," I replied. I proceeded to explain in detail how the spell worked. I showed him how I had left in the escape path he had found by slowing himself down, and how it could be removed. I showed him how the third stage spell could be extended to nullify his magic and psychic powers. It was a most educational experience.

The Lord of Terror was completely baffled. He had never met anyone who acted the way I was acting, and now I was showing him how to improve my own spell. It made no sense. Worse still from his point of view, I wasn't at all afraid of him. "What are you doing, Morisato? And why?"

"I'm teaching you, my Lord. That's what I came here to do, remember?"

"Aren't you afraid I'll use your own spells against you?"

"No, my Lord. No matter what spell you use against me, I'll invent a countermeasure before you can harm me." It wasn't a boast, but a simple statement of fact. An expert had designed that ability into me.

I tactfully refrained from mentioning that he couldn't use a sophisticated three-stage spell at all. Very few people, other than myself, have enough control and precision to use them safely. Any errors in the first stage spell would become greatly magnified in the third stage, so the first stage had to be very accurately constructed. I had less power but more precision than anyone else, so I had more need for staged spells and greater ability to construct them accurately. It's one of my specialties.

"Now I'll lower my mental shields and invite you to read my mind without any restrictions," I said. I was doing the unexpected again, and keeping the Lord off balance.

"Why?" he asked warily.

I replied, "It's easier than trying to express what I need to say verbally, and it allows you to verify the truth of anything you may discover. Think of it as a high powered pedagogical technique."

The Lord of Terror considered whether this was some new and subtle trap. Even if it was, he decided it seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up. He gingerly began his exploration of the contents of my memory. First, he searched for the spells I had used to bind him near me for the duration of our training encounter. This lead naturally to a review of the training I had undergone in preparation for this meeting. He was impressed.

"You went through all that just for me? I'm flattered," he thought.

"I may make mistakes from time to time, but underestimating the Lord of Terror won't be one of them," I responded.

Next he examined my memories of Kami-sama, Megumi, the Norns, and my relationships with them. This was new material for the Lord--he had never appreciated how rich and rewarding a loving relationship could be. He scanned my teaching the gods in Asgard, looking for magic and finding it, but also seeing the gods through my sympathetic eyes for the first time.

"That bilocation spell of yours is very clever. It's much better than the one I use," he commented.

After ten more minutes his demonic nature reasserted itself. With a brief cry of triumph, he took advantage of my unguarded state and possessed me. His body turned into insubstantial vapor and sank into my body. His triumph was short-lived.

I sent::'Won't you come into my parlor?' said the spider to the fly. Enjoy it while you can, Lord. You have five minutes, then it's my turn.::

The Lord of Terror was disconcerted--that thought had come from outside my body. A quick check revealed that I was no longer inside my body. He scanned the neighborhood and could find no trace of me. This was worrisome--I was being unpredictable again. I was using yet another new trick. I had become totally disembodied and was now in a "place" from which I could observe and act without being detected.

The Lord tried to remove the spells I had bound him with. No luck. He tried to teleport away. Blocked. He tried to leave my body. He couldn't.

::I didn't give you permission to leave,:: I sent.

The Lord was definitely upset now--this was not going according to plan.

After five minutes was up my body stopped obeying his orders. He was still in sole possession of it, and I was nowhere to be found, but my body was obeying me and not him. It walked over to the nearest wall, caused a couch to materialize, and sat down and made itself comfortable. The Lord of Terror found himself forcibly expelled from my body and into his own. Then the unthinkable occurred: I possessed him! He resisted strenuously, and put up a good fight, but the outcome was never in doubt.

I made a mirror appear and struck a pose in front of it. "I've often wished I was a little taller," I thought. I admired the muscular reflection in the mirror. By now the Lord of Terror was quaking in fear; I might keep his body and use it for my own purposes. I tried a different pose and examined my reflection critically. "No, this isn't my style," I thought, and he calmed down just a bit. I banished the mirror and freed the Lord, returning to my own body.

"Had enough?" I asked pleasantly.

The Lord of Terror tried to calm himself. He recalled the training I had undergone prior to our encounter. He reviewed what had happened when he had tried his strength against mine. The Lord did the only thing he could do under the circumstances--he dropped to his knees, bowed his head, and said, "My master, I am yours. Do with me what you will."

I stood up and gently raised him to his feet. I answered, "Stop that, I won't be bowed to. I'm not your master; you need no master. For the next few months I'm your tutor, and you'll address me as 'Sensei.' After that you're a free man, and you can call me whatever you wish. I think you're getting quite a good deal here. I'll give you considerable opportunity to chart your own future, and that of the other demons as well."

The Lord remained silent for nearly a minute, thinking. I had gone to all the trouble of dominating him, and then told him I wasn't his master. Worse still, I had defeated him using very little magical power and made it clear that power such as his was of little value to me. It definitely made no sense.

"Sensei, I think I know what kind of entity you are. You must be a Paradox."

I was delighted. That description fit me perfectly. "Morisato the Paradox" was the label I had long sought and never found. "Thank you, Lord. You've just given me a gift of great value. I hope to return the favor soon."

He shook his head and said, "Sensei, I'm confused. I don't understand why you did the things you've done."

I tried to explain. "There are two important principles that guided my actions. First, I had to get your undivided attention. You're a pure Alpha Male--you expect complete obedience from your subordinates. According to your own rules you must give complete obedience to anyone who can dominate you. According to my own rules I must hurt you as little as possible, preferably not at all. All I had to do was 'decisively defeat' you without hurting you. I let you attack me without fighting back so it would be clear that your best efforts caused me no discomfort. Then I restored you to your full health and power before I attacked you so that you'd have no excuse for your failure to escape from my spell. After that I explained how the spell I had used could easily have been made stronger. I had trapped you without even using my best effort. I made it clear that in a real combat I was sure to win, but I did it without hurting you. Then I reinforced the message by letting you explore my mind. You saw how I dealt with opponents more powerful than yourself and emerged undefeated every time. By then you knew that I had won, but pride kept you from admitting it. After the possession incident you couldn't deny it any longer. It was a challenging assignment, Lord. How did I do?"

He considered for a moment before replying, "Defeat me without hurting me? I'd have thought that was impossible. Yet, you've done it, and done it quite well. What was the other principle you mentioned?"

"I need to replace some of your most deeply held, but erroneous, ideas with new and incompatible concepts. Unfortunately, the only way to dislodge someone's core beliefs is to get him or her completely confused, baffled, and bewildered. Only then are they willing to consider radical new ideas. This means that I had to act unpredictably and contrary to expectations. In effect, I had to out-demon the master of demons. It was another challenging assignment. How did I do, Lord?"

"You're truly my master, Sensei." He bowed his head.

"I'd like to bring in some friends to help with the next lesson. One of them you already know," I said. There was a brief shower of sparks and then two goddesses materialized.

The Lord muttered, "I thought goddesses weren't allowed in Hell."

"Your warding spell is still in force," I explained, "but it's not strong enough to stop these fine ladies. Didn't you notice the sparks as they broke through?" I indicated the nearest goddess and said, "Lord, may I present Megumi, the Goddess of Computing."

The Lord was taken aback by Megumi's aura. Here was a goddess with power greater than his own, and with magical skill comparable to mine. Clearly she was a force to be reckoned with. He said, "Megumi, I already know a little bit about you, which I've gleaned from Sensei's memory. May I ask why you're here?"

"Mara and I are here to act as your support group. All three of us have recently had to make major adjustments as we changed from what we had been to what we are now. It's always a difficult process, but we hope to make it as easy for you as possible."

Lord looked at the other goddess. "Et tu, Mara? I hardly recognize you. Being a goddess must agree with you--look at how you've grown. You were always one of my favorite demons."

Mara smiled brightly and replied, "Thank you, my Lord. I trust I'll be one of your favorites again soon. You'll see."

"Let's begin the lesson," I declared. The three of us then projected a detailed reenactment (with commentary) of the morning when Mara had been converted from an enemy into a friend. When we were done, it was clear that the Lord had been deeply moved.

"I used to think I was persuasive, but Sensei has an enchanted tongue," he said. "Mara, do you believe all the things he said that day?"

"My Lord, I've been bad and I've been good. I've been a man and a woman, a demon and a goddess, heterosexual and homosexual. I speak from experience when I say I know what's right for me. I'm never going back to my destructive ways unless Sensei asks me to again." Her sincerity and conviction were obvious.

Lord looked thoughtful. "We demons always thought that love and truth were signs of weakness and foolishness. Obviously we were wrong. From your auras it's clear that love and truth are central to your characters, yet all of you are anything but weak and foolish. It seems that I've much rethinking to do."

Mara hugged him. He looked startled for a moment--nobody had ever hugged the Lord of Terror before--then his expression softened, and he returned the hug. Megumi and I beamed. The worst was over.

Lord asked me, "Sensei, did Kami-sama put you up to this project?"

"No, Lord, it's entirely my own idea. Kami-sama thinks it's just an unexpected bonus; he had designed me for an entirely different purpose."

The next day, during the break between the morning and afternoon training sessions, the Lord of Terror observed, "It seems to me I'll need a new name. My old name feels inappropriate now."

Megumi smiled. "Take your time, Lord, and pick something suitable after your training ends and things settle down."

I added, "We've been calling you 'Lord' for short. That can be your working handle until you find a better one."

A week later during dinner Lord said, "We may have more difficulty reforming the other demons than you expected. The energy coming from the Demonic Source is suitable for the way demons used to act. It's chaotic and destructive in its very nature. Demons get a dose of unruly behavior every time they consume demonic energy."

I grinned at him. "Have you tasted the demonic power flow recently, Lord?" He stopped and analyzed the power flow. It was subtly different from what he was used to. "It's about one percent less chaotic and three percent less destructive than it used to be, Lord. I've been changing it a little bit every week. I didn't want to give anyone indigestion or raise any alarms."

Lord looked surprised. "You've been purifying the Demonic Source? How can you do that? I can't even get near it; the power density is too great. You don't have enough energy to modify the Source."

"I don't have enough mana, but the Demonic Source has all the power I need to do the job. It's a classical martial art technique, using the strength of your opponent against him. I'm good at that, if you recall." Lord winced a little at the memory.

Mara put her hand on his arm and said, "Haven't you realized by now that Sensei never lets a day go by without doing or saying something astonishing? I think he has a built-in novelty generator."

After two weeks of training the reformation and reorientation portion of our task was essentially over. We closed up our outpost in Hell and relocated to Asgard. Mara and Megumi were relieved of their "support team" duties, but they hung around out of personal interest.

I took a day off to give Lord a tour and introduce him to a few people. You might expect that the sight of the Demon Prince in Asgard would cause a commotion, but it really didn't. Word of my current project had gotten around, and the gods were expecting us. He got more attention for his black loincloth attire than for his demon markings. Although the dress code for gods had been liberalized, it hadn't gotten nearly that far.

I introduced him to Deiko and Phoko, who were still demons when he had met them last. When I introduced him to Setun, he had a great laugh.

"So now you're 'Setun'? I remember you with a different name. Does anyone here get the joke?" he asked.

Setun replied, "If they have, they haven't mentioned it. That hasn't stopped me from enjoying it, however."

A little harmless mischief is welcome in Asgard now because it keeps life interesting.

When Lord shook hands with Kami-sama, Skuld recorded the event in a photograph that still draws interest in our library. She has a sure sense of history in the making.

Asgard itself had changed in the few years since I first arrived here. It used to be uniform in character from edge to edge. The central and largest portion is still in "classical" style, with gardens, floating terraces, and white marble structures of elegant design. The older or more conservative gods tend to cluster there. Surrounding this central portion there were now seven zones, each named for the dominant color of the buildings in them. Each zone blended tastefully with its neighbors and the central area. Less conservative gods gravitated to the zones. Beyond the zones were a few fringe neighborhoods where the designs and color schemes could be described as "experimental." The youngest gods tended to hang out in the neighborhoods.

We were in the blue zone when Lord remarked that a particular building looked like a Wright design. It was surrounded by Blue Spruce trees and blended in so well that you might not notice it at first glance. I was surprised, for I hadn't expected him to know much about architectural styles.

"It is Wright's work," I explained, "As long as we were remodeling, the God of Architecture invited a number of notable architects to submit designs for consideration. A few declined to submit, and a few submissions were rejected, but we have some interesting buildings to show for it. Nervi redesigned our amphitheater, which is now located in the yellow zone. Golden arches have never looked so good before."

We were in the neighborhood near the junction of the orange and yellow zones when Lord said, "You know, I could live in a place like this. It has life; it's not stuffy or solemn. It's my kind of town."

"You'd be welcome here," I answered.

Lord looked surprised. "Even if I'm not a god?"

I laughed. "The gods welcome me, and I'm not a god either, remember? In my own benevolent way I'm probably more disruptive than you'll ever be. I expect that in a few years the distinction between gods and demons won't be important, and either type will be welcome in Asgard or in Hell." He looked thoughtful for a moment, then he grinned in agreement.

After two more weeks of training I took Lord to Earth to meet my parents. I'd warned him that they weren't a typical mortal couple, but they were the kind of loving family that most humans wished they had. All my wives came along, so we had a larger than usual gathering.

After making introductions and some small talk, Takano offered to serve us tea. We accepted. Shortly afterwards, she called from the kitchen, "Keiichi, what's this in the pantry?"

"Bring it out, Mom. It's a western dessert they call 'devil's food cake.'"

Lord looked at me. "I can't tell whether I'm being honored or teased."

I grinned at him. "A little of each, Lord."

It was delicious, and we all enjoyed it.

Keima asked, "Lord, what do you do for a living?"

Lord answered, "Right now I'm a student, but usually I rule over all the demons in Hell."

Keima looked surprised. I tried to explain. "Lord is between names right now, because his old name no longer seems to fit. He used to be the Lord of Terror."

Our parents remembered being told of our earlier encounter with Lord. Takano said, "You seem like such a nice person; you couldn't be the same one who did those awful things. What happened?"

Lord actually blushed with embarrassment before replying. "Thank you. I hope I am a nice person now. I've had a close encounter with Sensei, and he's shown me the error of my ways. I believe there are no hard feelings on either side now."

I chimed in with, "We get along quite well now, as you've noticed. Lord has given me a great gift. He found the label I couldn't find for myself--I'm 'Morisato the Paradox' now."

Megumi exclaimed, "Give credit where it's due. I called you a paradox long before he did, and so did Urd soon afterwards."

Mother made a show of mock embarrassment. "My son the Paradox--whatever am I going to tell my friends?" We chuckled.

Lord looked at me and said. "You've also given me a gift of great value, Sensei." He tapped his chest and finished, "My heart."

Some time later Lord admitted that it still bothered him a bit that he had been beaten in combat by someone with very little power.

I replied, "Lord, would you feel better if you thought that I had great power?"

He looked startled. "Yes, but..."

I explained. "Megumi pointed this out to me, I'd been unaware of it myself. She's the Goddess of Computing, so she's closer to the action than I am. The mortals have a saying 'Knowledge is Power.' As Tutor to the Gods it follows that I must have access to enormous knowledge, and to the power that goes with it. Consider which is more powerful: a locomotive that can pull a heavy train, or the engineer who drives the locomotive and makes it obey his wishes? I know how to drive a locomotive, and any other kind of engine too."

As I finished, I looked pointedly at him. Lord understood, and made a sound like a mournful locomotive horn. He had just been demoted from ruler of his domain to a tool to be used whenever needed.

I continued. "My kind of power is better suited to my needs than your kind of power is. When you 'donated' your power to me I gained some power and you lost some, so the total amount of power remained constant. In contrast, when I teach you a new technique I still know it. The total amount of knowledge increases, and I lose nothing. Under the best conditions I learn from my students and we both benefit. That's my kind of power--the kind that has only winners and no losers."

Belldandy said, "Keiichi, Kami-sama told you that you had other powers and abilities that would manifest as time went on. Do you think this is one of them?"

"I doubt it. This isn't a new power, but rather a reinterpretation of an existing ability. I suspect I've identified a closely related ability that I wasn't aware of earlier. I seem to be able to answer any valid question, even on subjects that I thought I knew nothing about."

"How can you do that, Son?" asked Keima.

"I'm glad you asked, Keima, because I didn't know how myself until I heard your question. Are you familiar with holograms?" He nodded. I continued, "A single hologram can contain multiple images, each one corresponding to a unique reference beam of light. Shine the correct reference beam on it and you get the desired image immediately."

Megumi chimed in with, "Yes, they're trying to use that for data storage. It seems quite promising."

"Now imagine a hologram containing the answer to every possible question, where the questions themselves form the reference beams. As soon as a meaningful question is presented to it, the answer becomes visible immediately. The problem isn't just gathering all the information that exists into one place--that's already been done. The real problem is indexing such a vast amount of information. A regular catalog or index of this size would be completely unworkable because it's too big. The development of a holographic indexing scheme made all this data usable."

When our visit was over Lord admitted that my parents had impressed him. That was why I'd brought him there. A person could lack power and immortality and still be respected, because there are other measures of a person's worth. I wanted him to learn that lesson.

After we left Lord remarked, "It's a shame their lives are so short, they're good people."

"They don't see it that way," I replied. "In Japan beauty is valued more if it's fleeting. That's why the Sakura blossom season is so cherished--it's over quickly."