The Diabolical

In an ancient village lying under the shadow of a ruined Castle live two old friends, the Magistrate and the Bishop. The Magistrate, a brooding man who puzzles over the nature of knowledge, talks to people in the streets trying to make them better citizens. The Bishop is a man beloved by the people of the village, but he is sure that the days of virtuous men are over, and is trying desperately to keep everybody under the aegis of one faith. One day an old mystic comes to the village. The teacher forces the Bishop to examine his soul anew. But soon their lives are complicated further when it appears that from the Castle the old Count has come forth and is roaming the village at night. When an act of violence occurs, tensions boil over and the people take matters into their own hands and further violence erupts, ensuring nothing will be the same.
Intertwined is the story of the Count. When as a young man he falls in love with the beautiful Claire, he becomes a poet to try to woo her affections. But tragedy occurs and the girl dies.. As a spirit she tells him they can be reunited again, but he must become a philosopher, and travel through the realms of Hell and Purgatory.
The Count takes on the guise of the Diabolical, a powerful and grim man. In Hell, the Diabolical sees all those condemned of political sins: the liars, sophists, violent, impious, and the tyrants. He travels to the roots of the world, where he sees only chaos and the monstrous. There is a showdown with the Devil where each marshals together infernal armies to do battle. The Diabolical emerges victorious, but it is a hollow victory and it only pushes him further into despair.
In Purgatory, the Diabolical visits the City of Man, the well ordered city. He is then tempted by the Devil to become the Philosopher King. Instead he visits the realm of Nature, and is shown the nature of things and of himself. He encounters the god Hermes, who, after a dialogue regarding the nature of the soul, reveals to him the glory of the gods. When the eagle of Zeus carries him to the peak of the Mount of the Gods, he encounters again his Claire, now divine Philosophy. She crowns him Philosopher.
In Paradise, the Philosopher and Philosophy alight from the Mount of the Gods and travel towards the divine Sun. They travel through the solar system and consider the rules of geometry and astronomy. The Philosopher then joins in the flight of the souls that fly across the skies, each of whom follows a god. He follows the just Zeus to the summit of the heavens. There Philosophy is wedded to the Philosopher and they fly into the Sun. They then shine down upon the world as light.