CHAPTER 126

CHAPTER 126

NICOLE'S EYES gleamed as she reached the secret chamber. Passing by the terrible esoteric objects and the statue that disturbed her the previous time, the young woman headed towards her goal.

Near the end of the secret chamber, using her cell phone, which until then had been turned off, as a lamp, Nicole felt her heart race when she saw that the book was no longer there. His attention was then awakened by the strange light that came from the door that gave access to the underground. Upon being touched, the door opened revealing a gigantic staircase lit by torches that projected into the interior of the earth.

As she carefully descended, so as not to slip on those stone steps, Nicole became aware of a distant sound, a mixture of words or chants that gradually increased in intensity.

— ...Cifer excelis... tuo mondi...

As it descended, the words became clearer:

— ...Rex maximus, Luciferi glorificamus...

As he approached the bottom of the stairs, they acquired a frantic rhythm, as if uttered in a hallucinatory ecstasy.

— Potentum imperator de mondi, Glorificamus! — Adoramus te Rex o Dante fortibus!

— Lucifer Rex, ponticius exceisis!

Her body trembling, Nicole descended the last step. Ahead of him was an enormous underground temple. Surrounded by columns, it resembled an ancient Gothic cathedral; its inward contours gave the impression that its atrium was an immense amphitheater. Huge statues similar to the ones she had seen above were arranged around the temple, lit by hundreds of torches.

Hidden behind one of the columns, the young woman's gaze went to the center of the temple, where two dozen hooded people in ecstasy were performing a strange adoration. His attention then turned to the object of that strange adoration. Fear stamped on his face when he noticed Joseph Messina next to a hooded man sitting on a silver throne, with the Golden Book and an iron dagger in his hands.

The clamor suddenly ceased and everyone stood as if petrified looking at the Cardinal, who rose from his throne.

— From earth to heaven — said Messina with a transformed face, almost unrecognizable — today, you, O Brotherhood of the Serpent, will witness the beginning of our victory, the beginning of Lucifer's reign!

— From heaven to earth! — They all answered in chorus.

— Today — Cardinal Messina continued — the plan awaited over the centuries by our ancestors is being fulfilled. The son of Absalom's generation, he met all the requirements of ancient prophecy, and now, with the sacred words of the Book of Atlantis and the blood of the virgin...

A thick black veil that was behind the throne was removed allowing the view of Domenico Di Polli's niece, unconscious, lying on an altar.

— ...I will receive Lucifer's mind and subdue the world!

— From earth to heaven! — Said a part of the audience.

— From heaven to earth! — Answered the other party.

— Yes — returned the Cardinal — from earth to heaven and from heaven to earth! Lucifer's armies are ready for battle. Abaddon and Apollyon, the great generals of Hades, have already assembled their troops, they wait only for us, for me and for you. As soon as we fulfill our purpose, as soon as we dominate the Earth and start the great holocaust, we will allow Lucifer's armies to return to heaven from where they were expelled and claim what is rightfully theirs. To us, his faithful servants, Lucifer has given the kingdom of Earth!

— The book of Nimrod is in our hands! said Messina, raising the Golden Book. — The map fits the quadrants of the constellation Orion, and the pyramids at Giza point to Antarctica, to the towers that touch the sky!

— Soon we servants of the true light will receive our prize, the Tree of Life, and live forever!

Rex Maximus, Luciferi glorifymus! — They all answered in chorus.

THE YOUNG WOMAN WAS BEHIND a column of the temple, completely attentive to the words of Joseph Messina, with her eyes turned to that group in trance. Suddenly, in one of her pockets echoed a different sound, Nicole's eyes closed in despair:

— My God, no! — He murmured softly when he realized that it was his phone that had just rung.

The collective trance ceased in an instant, and everyone's attention then converged on that point in the temple. Perplexed, Nicole then understood that at that moment she had been discovered.