Melancholy Wings: Decadence (7 page)

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“Something else just came up. Lord Hades is going to go through it. Just let me do the talking.” Azrael stated in response.

Adelais decided to wait patiently. Once the last of the dark angels came in, the doors into Hades’ chamber closed, and Hades was ready to begin explaining the situation to everyone. There were just over a dozen of dark angels in the chamber. All of those were the dark angels native to the Erebus sector. Those weren’t all of Erebus’ dark angels, however, as more than half of them were already partaking on some missions and were elsewhere.

 Hades finally began summarizing the problem. Everyone was aware of what was going on, but Hades needed to introduce it nevertheless. It was good to make sure everyone was updated with the information and knew everything that was currently known. Once he finished explaining about the creature attacks, he rather quickly moved onto a different topic.

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“You all are probably wondering why Seere was here. Well, he delivered some disturbing news of a terrible slaughter that happened in the External World very recently. He said that the demonic powers were used during that massacre. This means some of you will need to go to the External World and locate the miscreant responsible.”

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“But what about the issue of creature attacks? We can’t possibly leave our home sector behind when more attacks could be on the way.” A dark angel by the name of Cael pointed out.

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“Yes, absolutely correct.” Hades acknowledged, “Some of you will need to stay behind and watch the defences.”

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“My troop can go and locate the attacker in the External World.” Gideon, who was Cael’s commander, suggested.

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“We can lend a hand.” Azrael proposed straight after.

There was silence right after that, whilst Hades pondered on who to send. Eventually he decided:

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“Fine then. Gideon, take your troop and go to the External World. Azrael, you too, but with one exception. I’d like Lazarus to stay behind and to engage in a different task.”

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“What is it, my Lord?” Lazarus responded to Hades’ query.

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“I figured that perhaps it would be best if someone kept a close watch on Malakai, one of the dark angel commanders of Infernal Pit. I think it should be you.”

Adelais’ fears began coming true. He knew well that Hades was very intelligent. If Hades decided that someone had to watch Malakai, it meant he highly suspected him.

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“Lord Hades, could I please be the one to do this task?” Adelais instantly spoke up.

Somehow Adelais could see that Hades knew he would say such a thing. It could’ve been because he was well aware of the friendship between him and Malakai.

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“I’m afraid I cannot send you, Adelais.” Hades replied almost straight away, “You and Malakai have a strong bond. He would be able to sense your presence. I have to send someone he is not acquainted with.”

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“It will be fine.” Lazarus placed his hand on Adelais’ shoulder, trying to reassure him.

Adelais didn’t argue. He understood why Hades didn’t want to send him. It was logically the best decision and would not disrupt the mission. Still, deep inside he wanted to shout over to Malakai to be careful.

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“Now then, just remember one thing, Lazarus…” Hades continued, drawing Lazarus’ attention once again, “…Do not engage in combat. Don’t even reveal yourself under any circumstances. I just want you to watch what he does, and if you find anything remotely suspicious, I want you to report back to me.”

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“I will do exactly that, Lord Hades.” Lazarus confirmed with a nod.

Hades then told everyone else to stay on defence of the sector, and finally dismissed them all. Some of the dark angels stayed behind to individually report to him about their most recent missions, whilst everyone else in the chamber silently walked out. They did not begin talking in the corridor. Instead, they absorbed everything that was said and contemplated on it. Once back outside, some flew back to their posts, whilst others began discussing the plan of action.

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“I guess I am going to depart now.” Lazarus said to his teammates.

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“I pray for our Creator to guide and protect you.” Azrael said to him. That phrase was another common saying among dark angels. Whenever any of them wanted to wish another one to do well and to be careful, they said that line. Even though the angels knew that the Creator had already decided what’s going to happen to those who served Him, they still said it as a sign that they hoped He chose to protect them.

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“And may He guide you as well.” Lazarus responded, wishing for Azrael and the others to succeed in locating the slaughterer in the External World.

On that note, Lazarus flew into the air and headed towards the docks, from which he would take the boat. Adelais, Azrael, and Ethel, however, flew in the other direction, towards the Northern side of the sector, that would lead them out of the Underworld. During the flight they began discussing their approach. Azrael said that it could be hard to locate the individual they’re after, but suggested they all stuck together and attacked as one unit.

 They reached the Northern part of the sector fairly soon and crossed the river Acheron. They slowed down their flight at that stage, so not to waste a lot of energy, and approached the Mount Sanctus. This mountain had a solitary path going straight uphill. It was called the Utopian Path, which, as the name suggested, eventually led all the way to the Utopia. However, somewhere halfway up that path there was a place that contained two huge gateways to the External World. Those were the ones Azrael and his team were heading towards.

Chapter 7

Agent of Destruction

Garridan spent the last few hours on the road, heading towards the village where one of his former enemies was rumoured to reside lately. It was a warlord by the name of Helgott. Helgott was a brutal warlord, who rebelled against his own king. Helgott’s king was an ally of Garridan’s, and Garridan spent an entire year tracking Helgott and his troops, and engaging with them in numerous battles. Nevertheless, Helgott always managed to escape unharmed. Garridan knew of Helgott hiding out in this location, as he and his team were planning on infiltrating it for days now. However, as his sire had him executed, he didn’t get a chance to go on with the plan. Now that Garridan was a lot more powerful than he used to be, he decided to go after Helgott once again, before proceeding to more targets on his list.

 He was starting to get accustomed to the unearthly energy that was flowing in him. It made him feel like he had a big purpose to fulfil, and that felt really good. He knew there was a good reason as to why the supernatural entities chose him to purify the world from the filth infesting it.

 It was starting to dawn slowly, but for the most part was still dark. Now that Garridan reached the village, he took it easy, making sure no-one saw him. He knew this was the most recent village Helgott ran away to, but he didn’t know which house to strike. More importantly, it wasn’t in his intentions to harm innocent civilians. He just wanted Helgott’s head, and that was all.

 Little by little, Garridan got to the village streets, but there was hardly anyone around, a handful of people at most. He was starting to get impatient. He did not want to wait till daylight. His way was to strike at night, when he had the cover of darkness. Waiting for the day to pass would take too long, and so Garridan needed to act fast. He decided to stop hiding and came out onto the streets. The few villagers who were out and about at the time didn’t mind him. Since it was still pretty dark, they could not see his frightening burnt face. Garridan knew that walking through the streets and gazing about, however, was not going to get him to find his enemy. He decided to finally risk it by coming up to one of the women, and asked in his rough voice:

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“Could you please tell me if you know of the location of Helgott?”

The woman saw his face when she turned around and got terrified. She screamed out loud, alerting everyone nearby. Within seconds the village guards began approaching. Feeling enraged, Garridan picked the woman up and tossed her aside. Then, in a blink of an eye, he drew his sword out and waited for the guards to get closer.

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“Leave now or we will be forced to kill you.” One of the three guards threatened when he was close enough to Garridan.

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“You fools! I am already dead.” Garridan responded.

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“Leave now!” the guard repeated.

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“I just want to know where Helgott is. Tell me and I’ll leave you alone.” Garridan attempted to reason with them.

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“You’ve given us no choice.” The guard stubbornly reacted and swung with his blade at Garridan.

The other two guards initiated an attack as well. Garridan quickly took a step back, and then just as quickly lunged forward whilst slashing. That sudden swift move with the sword decapitated one of the guards. The other two saw what happened and hesitated for a brief moment. That was enough time for Garridan to sharply turn around and to graze their throats with a single slice, putting them both down instantly.

 When he was done with those three guards, there was a panic on the streets of the village already, as the civilians kept screaming, waking up the others. More guards got drawn to Garridan’s location. Garridan, however, knew that this chaos would draw Helgott out of his house as well, meaning he had to be watchful. He could not let Helgott get away again.

 Two of the guards came up to Garridan here, and, without asking questions, attempted to slash at him with their blades. Garridan performed two quick counters and put the two guards down within seconds, the first one by a throat slash, and the second one with a stab through the stomach. Once again, without taking a second glance at the ones he killed, he continued scanning the area for Helgott whilst ignoring all the other guards that were converging on him.

 It was as if he had an unusual gift. Just as he expected, he spotted Helgott appearing on the street at the distance. Helgott was a burly man who wore heavy armor and wielded a halberd. By the looks of it, he didn’t recognize Garridan and was just trying to understand what the shouting was all about. Garridan instantly moved off from his spot and began increasing his speed. Helgott eventually noticed the familiar armor that Garridan wore and realised he was an enemy. Garridan roared as he charged at full speed towards Helgott, who was still a fair distance away. Helgott decided not to engage in combat and thus began making a run for it. Garridan continued sprinting, now running at a speed no human could. Two of the guards got on his way, trying to stop him, but they were brutally knocked onto the ground by Garridan’s inhuman strength.

 He was closing the distance between himself and Helgott very fast, despite the crowds of people on the street. Rage was building inside of him at an alarming rate. When he felt confident enough, he applied all of the energy he had onto his legs and made a leap in Helgott’s direction. The distance he jumped was extraordinary. Helgott turned around at that moment, to check where his enemy was, and saw a leaping silhouette closing in on him from the air. He quickly reacted to produce a swing with his halberd, but, before he even started swinging, Garridan landed on him vehemently. During the impact Garridan pierced his sharp blade through Helgott’s chest and killed him instantly.

 As soon as he recovered from the leap and got back onto his feet, he saw lots of guards arriving at his location, surrounding him.

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“End of the line for you.” The guard leader announced, “You have nowhere to go now.”

Azrael and his troop finally arrived at the desired location and landed by the two gateways to the External World. The gateways were massive arcs, towering above the angels, and containing what looked like a swirling grey vortex inside of them. One of them led to the Northern hemisphere of the External World planet, and the other to the Southern hemisphere. Just as Adelais and the others got closer, Azrael stopped and turned to them.

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“Now then, we haven’t been in the External World in a long time. Adelais, I sure hope you remember the key precautions to consider when in the External World.”