Melancholy Wings: Decadence (20 page)

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“I’ll tell you again then. Join me. We can achieve so much together.” Malakai gave a proposition.

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“No.” Adelais responded coldly, “I do not change my allegiance so easily. Give me a good reason why I should.”

Before Malakai had a chance to speak, however, the two of them heard a yelling voice, coming from the front entrance corridor. Just as they turned towards it, they saw Azrael rushing into the chamber and stopping just behind the guards who were surrounding Adelais.

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“Please stop.” Azrael said to everyone.

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“Azrael, I am not finished yet.” Adelais told his commander whilst turning back to face Malakai.

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“Adelais, you cannot do this alone. You must stop.” Azrael tried to reason with him.

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“Then why don’t you help me?”

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“We are not in a position to liberate the entire sector, Adelais. Surely you must understand that.” Azrael explained, hoping to change Adelais’ mind.

Adelais looked down at the ground again, trying to make sense of what was happening and what he could do. He never was this confused in his life before. He knew what Azrael was saying was the truth, but he couldn’t come to grips with it. He simply could not give up on the task that he set for himself.

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“This is a suicide.” Azrael continued, “Don’t waste your talent away. You are still needed in your sector.”

Adelais finally yielded to his friend’s advice and looked back up from the ground.

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“So be it. I guess I have no choice but to quit.”

He then gave one quick cold glance in Malakai’s direction before turning to Azrael and starting to walk towards him, past the guards. Azrael looked relieved that he managed to subdue Adelais finally.

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“We’re leaving now.” He said to the nearest guard, “Please give Lord Astaroth my apologies about the mayhem that happened here.”

The oni guard nodded in response and escorted the two dark angels towards the corridor and through the front entrance of the sector. As soon as Adelais and Azrael came out of the mountain and were on their way to the dock, Adelais spoke:

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“So are you going to rebuke me now?”

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“Not at all, Adelais. I do not do such things. I just hope that you understand your actions and learn from them.” Azrael replied calmly.

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“I guess I just lost control. I am sorry about this.” He apologised to his friend.

Azrael did not reply, but by the looks of it he sympathized with Adelais. The two of them continued on to the dock, and as soon as they reached the boat, a messenger flew up to them, grabbing their attention.

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“Dark angels Azrael and Adelais, I have bad news.”

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“What is it?” Azrael reacted.

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“Your sector is under attack. A large army of creatures was spotted heading towards it, and as a result I was sent to warn you. They probably have reached it already.” The messenger disclosed everything.

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“Who is attacking us?” Azrael wondered.

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“It’s Lord Beelzebub again. This time it’s for real.”

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“All right. Tell the others we’re on our way.”

On that note Adelais and Azrael got onto the boat and headed off, hoping to reach their sector as soon as possible, even though their sector’s defences were very good and most likely would be able to repel the attack.

Aurora overheard two dark angels in her sector mention what happened at the Abode, and she heard Adelais’ name being mentioned. Ever since then she was worried, and now her master was waging a war against Erebus sector for no good reason. Things weren’t making sense. She couldn’t quite comprehend why there was so much conflict happening.

 Finally she saw Malakai in the sky, approaching from the direction Abode of the Corrupted was located at. Without standing still, she rushed to ask him about everything. Just as she was about to fly into the air, she saw him descending and eventually landing onto the ground not far from her. Within seconds Aurora ran up to him and asked before even stopping:

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“Malakai, what happened in there?”

She then saw the state Malakai was in and got horrified. He had a few slices on his armor and his face was grim. She got a bit closer to him and tried to catch his gaze.

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“What happened? Please tell me Adelais is still alive.”

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“He is fine.” Malakai responded indifferently, “We had a bit of a fight.”

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“Why?” Aurora desperately wanted to know.

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“He found out about me changing sides and thought I betrayed him.” Malakai continued disclosing to her in an indifferent manner whilst heading somewhere.

Aurora calmed down, knowing that Adelais was doing fine. She was glad that Malakai came back alive too. Hearing about a fight between them wasn’t so pleasing, however, even though she could understand why Adelais would accuse Malakai of betrayal. She felt the same way when she first found out.

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“Where are we going now?” she asked Malakai as he kept persistently walking forward with a purpose of some kind.

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“It is time, Aurora. Beelzebub has begun his attack. Things are about to change. We are at the turning point.” Malakai declared to her whilst still walking.

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“I see.” She responded, deciding to stick with her dark angel commander on this.

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“Now that I have you on my side, I need to mention this to Dugan and Ragnar as well.”

The two of them got nearer to the main cave complex, but didn’t enter it. Malakai knew exactly where the dark angels from his troop were. The two of them continued a bit further, past the cave complex entrance, until they reached one of the guard towers nearby. In an instant they reached it, they flew all the way to the top of it. It appeared that just as Malakai predicted, Dugan and Ragnar were there, looking out onto the nearby areas and making sure everything was in order.

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“Ragnar, Dugan, I have something to say.” He alerted them.

Aurora landed right next to him and quietly listened to the conversation.

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“Malakai, we’ve heard about what happened at the Abode. It is good to see that you’ve made it.” Dugan spoke.

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“Don’t worry about it. There are bigger things happening right now.”

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“What do you mean?”

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“I’ve come to tell you that I am no longer serving Lord Beelzebub.” Malakai put it straight to the point.

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“Why?” Ragnar couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

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“For tactical reasons.” Malakai evaded the question, “You have a choice now. If you trust me, you can join me. If not, you can stay with Lord Beelzebub.”

Dugan and Ragnar were lost and didn’t know what to do. This proposition took them by surprise.

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“Aurora already joined me.” Malakai let them know.

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“Well… in that case the two of you are no longer my allies.” Dugan finalised his decision, “I am going to stay.”

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“Me too.” Ragnar agreed.

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“Are you sure about this? This is the last time you’ll get to make this decision. From here on you can’t change your mind.”

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“Yes, I think I’ll stay. I am sorry.” Dugan insisted on his former choice.

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“Suit yourselves then.” Malakai said apathetically, even though Aurora knew it pained him to lose two of his trusted soldiers.

On that note he turned around and flew off. Aurora followed right after him, leaving the two of her former comrades behind. Dugan and Ragnar did not attack their former commander, for they had respect for him, even despite the fact that they declined his offer to betray their current master.

 Whilst in the air, Aurora flew closer to Malakai and asked him:

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“So where to now?”

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“To the Pandemonium.” He answered without hesitation.

Chapter 21

Under Attack

Ethel, Lazarus, and other Erebus units were in a meantime preparing for the attack. Their messengers spotted the invasion and warned Hades. The time was short, but they were ready beforehand, and hence the defences were in order.

 Now that the army of attacking boats and creatures was sighted, all of the sector’s dark angels and other defenders formed ranks at the side of the sector the attack was coming from, waiting for the enemy to get closer. The variety of creatures in the attacking army was very diverse. Not only there were reptilian crawlers and giant flies, as last time, but also large arachnids, centipedes, locusts, and hornets. The multitude of all those hideous creatures looked horrifying and chaotic.

 Most of the Erebus guards stood right behind the main gate, positioned in numerous rows. There were several catapults on the battlefield too, ready to launch large rocks at the enemy. The dark angels of the sector were scattered along the wall, watching the attackers and letting the rest of the army know how close those were by using various gestures.

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“We are going to get run down.” Lazarus stated when he saw the wave approaching.

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“Don’t be so negative.” Ethel responded whilst turning in his direction, “There are a lot of them, but that is all they’ve got on us – the numbers.”

Lazarus went quiet after she said that, and she could see that he partially agreed. Two other angels who stood in the vicinity heard that too. Every dark angel of Erebus except for Adelais and Azrael was there.

 The first creatures to reach the sector were the flies and hornets, as they were airborne and were not slowed by the river. When those reached the Erebus walls, every single dark angel spoke the signature phrase “Thy will be done” and finally flew up into the air. Once in the air, they all charged at the approaching monstrosities. The flies were not a problem, as they could withstand very little damage and their only means of attack was biting. The hornets, however, could bite and were armed with a sting, as well as being able to fight on after receiving substantial damage.  Nevertheless, for the most part the dark angels were fast enough to evade the stings and hence could bring down the hornets without much trouble. The erinyes joined them quickly and helped out, managing to hold the control of the air.

 However, the ground creatures were starting to reach the sector’s walls. The first ones to arrive were the reptilian crawlers, as they swam through the river, whilst all the others were delivered by big boats. Ethel quickly landed back onto the wall and signalled to the army behind the gate that the enemies had now reached their sector. As soon as she’s done that, she dived downwards and began trying to take out as many reptilian crawlers as possible without properly landing. Two other dark angels joined her, managing to destroy a few of many crawlers. The surviving crawlers began ascending the wall and getting onto the other side. There was very little point to barricading the gates, because all those creatures could easily climb over the walls, or fly over.

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“We might have to get back behind the gates.” Cael suggested to Ethel whilst both of them were in flight.