Imprisoned within the prison of thorns, he had summoned the Evil God and begged for mercy.
“That is my sin.”
It would have been enough if he had conducted himself better or been strong enough to disregard everything. Then he would never have been imprisoned. He should not have dared summon an Evil God while drunk on pain. How could he know what disaster would follow?
And after doing so, he certainly should never have begged for mercy.
“I know. Wicked gods are always like that. Even when you pray for happiness, they never grant it straightforwardly. They forever contemplate how they might make the petitioner more miserable, then bestow the most horrific mercy permitted by the rules.”
“But was that not the mercy you desired?”
“It was. I desired that very mercy. I wanted pain greater than what I experienced in the prison of thorns. Even that would have been a reward. I was already mad, and far too tired. Any change at all would have been salvation.”
When pain became eternal, even it grew terribly boring. That had been Ater’s torment. Because it was a hell he wished to escape, he dared beg an Evil God for mercy while wishing for an even worse hell.
“But what did you give me?”
The Evil God had granted him true salvation.
“You…