Melancholy Wings: Decadence (16 page)

 He finally decided that he would first trick Beelzebub into attacking Erebus, and as a result they would retaliate and destroy him, perhaps even with reinforcements from Helheim and other sectors.

 Just as he headed down the tunnel, he came across Aurora. Once again he noticed how often he kept running into her. She began speaking first before he could mention anything.

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“Hey, how did the mission go? I didn’t get a chance to ask.”

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“It went fine.” Malakai replied coolly, “Garridan would be gone very soon.”

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“Did you hit a lot of resistance from the Pandemonium troops?” she was curious.

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“We managed to slip away before most of them arrived.” He answered her question.

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“All right. Hey, can I come to your next mission?” Aurora then asked all of a sudden, which was a little puzzling to Malakai.

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“Yes, of course. You would need to eventually.” he didn’t deny it.

Aurora thanked him and then left him alone. Malakai was finding her behaviour stranger and stranger, but that was natural during first few interims in the Underworld. The individual’s perception of the world and general attitude tended to change when they took on this job as one of the Underworld’s guardians.

 Shaking it off in his mind, Malakai resumed heading down the tunnel to his master’s chamber. However, just as he reached the small chamber leading to Beelzebub’s room, Beelzebub was already flying out of the room.

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“Malakai, you’re back. Tell me on the progress.” He seemed to have noticed the return of his most trusted dark angel.

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“We’ve destroyed Garridan’s shrine. All is left is to defeat Garridan directly. I think the troops of Erebus are going to do that.” Malakai replied.

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“Good. I am pleased to hear that. Have you found out why Lucifer is using that individual in the External World?”

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“I am not entirely sure, but I think he might be building an army.” Malakai lied, considering he knew exactly that to be the case.

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“An army? I knew it! Whom is he attacking?” Beelzebub didn’t like the sound of that at all.

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“He might be attacking the Utopia again.” Malakai pretended to speculate, “I have some other news for you too, master.”

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“Let’s hear them.”

Here Beelzebub began ascending along the tunnel, and Malakai followed right after him. It was rare when sector leaders came out of their hideouts, but Beelzebub appeared to want to make sure that everything in the sector was in order, considering the recent mishaps they had with security. Malakai thought carefully and then began fabricating lies to his master:

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“When infiltrating the Pandemonium with dark angels from Erebus, I overheard them talking, and I think they are still suspicious of us. They think we’ve secretly joined Lucifer and are planning to attack them in full.”

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“I have to be honest, I’ve been giving this issue a lot of thought too, and what you say makes sense. They seem to be visiting us quite often too, most likely scanning our defences. I really do not like this and am feeling compelled to take some action.” Beelzebub admitted.

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“Precisely my thinking, master.” Malakai was delighted of Beelzebub’s suspicions.

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“I want to send them a sign to stay out, and if they refuse to listen, then I might have to send in everything we’ve got. They’ll be very sorry if it ever comes down to that.” Beelzebub let Malakai know of his plan.

Malakai was flaring up with joy inside. Things were going smoothly, and his master decided to act exactly as he wanted. Little did Beelzebub know that his most trusted guardian wasn’t going to defend the sector when the retaliation would come.

Azrael and his team arrived back in Erebus and got off the boat. As they began walking away from the dock, Azrael began planning the ensuing step for them to take. Now that Garridan was severely weakened, they could locate and attack him once again, without him being able to flee from the fight.

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“Adelais, Ethel, listen up. I am going to assemble a small team now, so that we can head to the External World again and stop Garridan once and for all.”

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“What about the souls in the Abode?” Adelais reminded him, “When are we going to save them?”

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“Adelais, you’ve been told already, we must prioritise our tasks. At the moment those souls are in no danger. Garridan, however, is killing innocent lives in the External World as we speak.” Azrael explained to him.

Ethel put her hand on Adelais’ shoulder to reassure him that everything would be all right as she knew how much he worried about those souls. Azrael could see his vexation too.

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“Here is the plan then. Let us meet up at the Northern dock in exactly one hour. I need to find Lazarus and report everything to Lord Hades, and also, if possible, I’ll ask Gideon to come with us as well.”

Both Ethel and Adelais nodded in understanding, at which moment Azrael flew up into the air to find the others. He wasn’t comfortable knowing that Adelais was extremely worried for those souls in the Abode. However, it was important to him that more sensitive tasks were completed first. Impulsivity wasn’t going to help them in accomplishing those, but a plan that was well thought out.

 As he flew, he concentrated and withdrew some attention from the outside world, allowing him to sense all the other dark angels in the sector. With that, he located Lazarus and Gideon and learnt of their current whereabouts. Within seconds he returned his attention back to the outside and headed for those locations.

 Lazarus was patrolling around Hades’ palace. Once Azrael spotted him, he landed by his side. Lazarus asked about the mission and Azrael explained the situation to him and of their current objectives. With that in mind, Lazarus said he’d see him at the Northern dock and then continued patrolling. Azrael once again flew into the air and now headed for the location Gideon was at. Gideon and his team weren’t far away. They were preparing some troops in case of an attack on the sector. Once Azrael reached them, he addressed Gideon.

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“I’ve assembled my team and we’re ready to head back out into the External World. Would you lend a hand again in defeating Garridan?”

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“Have you located him?” Gideon wondered.

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“No, but this time we can be sure he will not desert the battle.” Azrael said and then decided to inform Gideon of what he and his team had done to achieve that.

Gideon listened intently, and then after a very brief pause replied:

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“I can definitely come and help, though Cael and Ilana should probably stay and oversee our defences.”

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“Yes, that sounds like a good idea.” Azrael agreed, “Did you find anything out about the Abode?”

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“No. Everything is the same over there. We did not see any Pandemonium troops guarding it. Most likely they joined Pandemonium willingly.”

Azrael took those words on board and on that note he let Gideon know of their meeting place and decided to spend the remaining time on informing Hades of their next step too. He flew back into the air and headed for Hades’ palace again. Within a short period of time he arrived and without any rush went inside.

When the time came to assemble at the Northern dock, Azrael was the first one there. Very soon Ethel joined him. They waited for the others for a little longer, and soon Lazarus and Gideon made it there too. Adelais, however, was still missing.

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“Ethel, wasn’t Adelais with you?” Azrael asked at that stage.

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“No, we separated just after you left us.” Ethel honestly admitted.

Lazarus was already at it, trying to sense Adelais’ current location. A surprised look appeared on his face within seconds.

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“He is not here.” Lazarus let the others know.

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“Where is he?” Gideon asked.

Azrael concentrated at that moment too, feeling curious about Adelais’ whereabouts. He managed to sense where Adelais was just before Lazarus spoke:

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“Abode of the Corrupted.”

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“I should’ve known.” Azrael responded instantly and with some regret, “He decided to take it upon himself to free those souls.”

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“Then we should go and help him.” Ethel suggested with concern.

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“No.” Azrael denied, “Stay in Erebus and be ready for our return. I’ll go and retrieve him myself. Once we’re back, we’ll head out to the External World. I hope Adelais won’t get himself killed before I get there.”

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“Are you sure about that?” Lazarus asked him just to be convinced.

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“I am. Don’t tell Lord Hades about it, unless we don’t return for a while.” Azrael told the others, and then hastily flew into the air and headed for the Southern dock to get a boat and travel to the Abode of the Corrupted.

Chapter 17

Do it Alone

The boat Adelais took was almost at the Abode now. However, he was too impatient and decided to proceed with his plan before the boat had a chance to dock. He let the boatman know of that and then, within a second, jumped into the air and flew up. He did not want to enter through the main entrance anyway, as it was well guarded. There was another entrance. Abode of the Corrupted was an enormous mountain, and it was burrowed with caves throughout. In fact, majority of the chambers were so enormous and so numerous that the entire mountain was a giant facility. It was a mere husk of a mountain concealing a gigantic prison on the inside. There were 27 levels within the mountain itself, and additional 39 levels beneath the surface. Each level was huge in itself and could house over a couple of hundred of souls at any one time. The bottom-most level was the only one that contained no prisoners and was the location of the sector’s leader, Astaroth, and the off-duty troops.

 The way into the mountain Adelais wanted to take was located at the very top. He soared all the way up, as high as he could, and once he ended up higher than the mountain, he descended gradually. The opening on the top wasn’t huge, but it was big enough to be visible. It, however, was not unprotected. Not only were there a dozen of guards circling it, but there were streams of fire erupting out of it every few seconds.

 The guards spotted Adelais the moment he landed, which was at a fairly small distance from them. They were regular oni – hideous looking humanoid creatures with sharp claws and teeth. Though they could fight well hand-to-hand, they were also armed with blades and axes. Adelais knew what he was up against, but he refused to back down. The first two that approached him produced a pounce in his direction. He dodged them with absolute precision and then quickly faced the next two. Those swung at him with their swords before even having a chance to stop. Adelais placed his longsword on the path of those two and successfully blocked. Within a blink of an eye, he swung his blade back in a semicircular arc and slashed one of the oni behind him. Before the two he was fighting had a chance to produce the next strike, he swung the blade back in their direction, producing deep gashes across their torsos.

 By then, all the rest of the oni guards were upon him, so Adelais had to watch out for several weapons swinging at him at the same time. He did, however, specialise in a focus ability, meaning his reactions were superb, and the more he concentrated, the more agile he became in a fight.

 Eventually, after receiving only a single superficial slice on the left arm, Adelais finished off all of the guards and was ready to get inside the Abode. As he approached the opening, the fire kept sprouting out in violent bursts from it. Adelais could feel the heat even before he came right up to it. The opening was just about wide enough for an angel to fit into it whilst fully spreading the wings. Adelais, however, didn’t need to spread his wings. He needed to dive inside the tunnel and to clear it before the next wave of fire. It was obvious that this opening was used only as an exit and never as an entrance. He counted how long it took between two separate bursts of fire and began mentally preparing himself for something nearly impossible. The fear began taking over him, and for a split second he felt like turning back and giving up. As a result, Adelais fell on his knees. He had the motivation, but it was too difficult to overcome the fear of failure. He closed his eyes briefly and attempted to address the Creator: