Melancholy Wings: Decadence (22 page)

 Three of their dark angels perished in that battle, along with a great number of machai soldiers, hellhounds, and erinyes. Adelais and the other surviving dark angels approached the defeated angels from their sector and waited for their departure. Within seconds, three dazzling beams from above descended on the deceased angels and claimed them.

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“Peace be with you.” Each surviving angel said quietly at that moment whilst observing the scene.

 That was a phrase the angels said when some of their angel allies died in battle. Just as Adelais and the other dark angels were about to leave the ravaged battlefield, Ethel spotted a solitary infernal messenger flying towards them. She warned the others of it, and they remained to find out what message it had to deliver. The messenger stopped some distance from them, in the air, and then began loudly speaking:

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“Lord Beelzebub has the following message to you all. He hopes that was a fair warning to you to stay away from the Infernal Pit sector. He says that you might’ve won this battle, but his sector can produce multitudes of these creatures very rapidly. Should you dare to wage war on him, he promises to swarm you with great numbers.”

As soon as it finished mentioning Beelzebub’s threatening message, it turned around and flew back to where it came from, leaving the dark angels of Erebus shocked and at the same time somewhat frustrated.

Chapter 23

Volatile Situation

Azrael and his squad headed straight for the Hades’ palace to discuss this unexpected situation with their leader. He most likely would’ve wanted to discourse it with every dark angel in the sector at the same time, but Azrael wanted to start on it right away. When they began approaching the palace, they saw Hades standing outside, on the palace’s doorstep. Minos and the other two burly judges were by his side. Instantly Azrael and his troop descended and landed right in front of their master.

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“So, you made it back on time, Azrael.” Hades mentioned the moment they landed.

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“Yes, I apologise for what happened. We…” Azrael began saying, but Hades interrupted him.

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“No need to apologise. I am glad everything got resolved.”

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“Right.” Azrael gave a small nod of acknowledgement, “The creatures outside the walls have been stopped.”

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“Excellent. And now we’re faced with a dilemma.” Hades began walking from side to side at this stage.

Azrael began listening intently at that moment so that he could absorb everything his master was about to say. Adelais, Ethel and Lazarus did exactly the same. Hades continued pacing from side to side and trying to collect the right words to explain the situation to his troops. Eventually he began speaking:

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“Lord Beelzebub sent us a warning, right? However, what kind of warning is that? Nobody sends this many units to attack someone if they just want to send a warning. Maybe the small armies we faced a couple of interims ago were a warning, but this is something bigger. I am not sure what Beelzebub is planning, but he could attack us again.”

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“Then we’ll need to fortify the defences again.” Azrael responded with a solution.

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“Well, I’ve been debating with myself about what to do. Should we retaliate or should we keep it down and hope for it all to settle? I’ve seen the good and the bad of either choice, and hence I am torn.” Hades elaborated further, trying to keep it simple for the dark angels.

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“We should retaliate.” Adelais suggested at that moment, “Malakai must’ve turned him against us. Our only solution is to force Lord Beelzebub into surrender.”

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“I fear this is exactly what Lucifer wants to happen.” Hades commented on Adelais’ proposition, “You see if we attack the Infernal Pit, eventually both of our armies will be greatly weakened. That would make both our sector and Beelzebub’s easy targets for Lucifer to take over.”

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“Enduring Lord Beelzebub’s repeated attacks will weaken us as well.” Adelais pointed out.

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“You are right.” Hades acknowledged wholeheartedly, “Which puts us in a very difficult position.”

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“Maybe if…” Azrael began all of a sudden, but then stopped as he needed to express himself correctly for the others to understand, “…I think if a small team infiltrates the Infernal Pit, then we might be able to prevent further attacks. What I have in mind is for me and my team to go there alone. We’ll get in stealthily and reach Lord Beelzebub’s throne room. Once there, we will try to convince him to stop this hostility.”

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“And if he refuses?” Hades wanted to hear Azrael’s backup plan.

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“Then we will have no choice but to defeat him. I think the four of us will be able to handle it.” Azrael stated with confidence.

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“Be careful. You don’t know what he will have defending his throne room. I wouldn’t be so hasty if I were you, Azrael.” Hades criticised his suggestion, but in spite of that, it seemed that to him it was better than both inaction and a full out attack.

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“If Malakai betrayed him, then surely Lord Beelzebub’s defences are severely weakened.” Ethel called to attention suddenly, “He might be having legions of bugs in his sector, but he would be lacking on his personal bodyguards.”

Hades took on board what Ethel said and began thinking it through. Azrael knew that their leader was good at planning scenarios out in his head, and was now most likely trying to play out this one. Azrael kept doing that as well and still couldn’t see any obvious disadvantages. He learnt from Hades that being hasty was a bad idea, and that most times the less obvious the flaw was, the more dangerous it was.

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“I have to say, I don’t see why we shouldn’t try it.” Hades finally said, “Yet I still urge you not to take any unnecessary risks. If you four are killed, it will be a scathing blow to the defences of Erebus. You’re my best team of dark angels. Keep that in mind.”

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“Great. So when would be best to go there?” Adelais wondered, “Now or should we wait a little bit for the dust to settle?”

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“We should go right now.” Azrael turned to Adelais, and then to Hades for reassurance, “The earlier we strike, the less time Lord Beelzebub will have to predict our intentions.”

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“I agree.” Hades liked the sound of that, “Though we might also want to consider how you’ll get there. The waters around the Infernal Pit might be unsafe at this time.”

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“And flying would be too great a distance.” Ethel pointed out.

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“Maybe we should take Cocytus instead of Lethe to get us to the Infernal Pit.” Adelais suggested a different river route.

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“No, definitely a bad idea.” Hades dismissed it straight away, “Cocytus is by a long shot the most dangerous river to travel by. The Pandemonium forces have innumerable amount of traps of various kinds along it. As a result, they are the only ones who use it.”

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“Then we are pretty much stuck.” Adelais didn’t seem to know of any other way.

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“Perhaps the safest option would be for the lot of you to take a boat to the Den of Retribution. That sector is still on our side. From there you should fly to the Infernal Pit. It’s not exactly close, but it’s much closer than flying from here.” Hades recommended to them.

Each of the dark angels thought about the idea and seemed to like the sound of that. Azrael began putting together everything they discussed and was hoping this plan would work. Once he was confident in it, he told Hades that they were going to leave right away. Ethel, Lazarus, and Adelais were prepared as well, at which stage all four of them flew into the air and departed towards the Southern dock.

Malakai and Aurora were nervously waiting in a filthy chamber just beyond the first Western gate in the Pandemonium. The guards weren’t sure if to let them in further or not and hence sent a messenger to Alastor about it. Malakai and Aurora had waited for quite long now and were getting impatient.

 Finally one of the demonic guards entered the chamber and approached them. He was just an ordinary infantry trooper.

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“Alastor will see you now.” He said after a brief pause.

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“It’s about damn time.” Malakai cursed irritably.

He and Aurora got up and followed the soldier out, who led them towards the second gate. The guards on duty quickly unlocked the gate and began opening it. When they did, the guide soldier took Malakai and Aurora past it. Malakai could now see overwhelmingly high towers and sturdy colossal citadels, as well as flaming foundries, spacious courtyards, where the demon kind practiced fighting, and of course prisons of various types.

 This first section looked rather huge, but it was nothing compared to the next area. Once the guard took them both past the third gate, that’s when they truly saw the essence of the Pandemonium – big mountainous areas which stretched over into the distance, scorching lava streams, a huge golden burning lake of brimstone, and in between all of those were the solid structures, similar to those they’ve already seen.

 Alastor was waiting for them next to a wide cave mouth, not far from the third gate. Eligos stood right next to him, as well as one other high-ranked demon - Malphas. Malphas was an average-sized humanoid demon, who had darkened skin, similar to dark angels, big black wings, and he wore a black helmet, resembling the head of a crow. He was in charge of the defences in Pandemonium, as he could come up with the best designs for strongholds of various kinds. Due to that, he rarely came out of his tower, but after hearing of recent events he wanted to meet Malakai.

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“Quite an exquisite place you’ve got here.” Malakai remarked the moment he came up to Alastor and the others.

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“You’ve decided to finally join us.” Alastor spoke in his deep, low-pitched voice, “You’re rather slow.”

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“I’ve joined you awhile ago.” Malakai corrected him, “I just needed to stir up some conflict before I could officially leave Beelzebub. You requested it yourself.”

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“Ah, so you haven’t forgotten about it? Maybe I underestimated you.” Alastor came to realise, “And who is this?”

Alastor pointed at Aurora here with his hammer. Aurora instinctively took a step back from fear.

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“Stand down. She is from my former troop. She is still new in the Underworld and promised to stand by me on the matter.” Malakai explained reassuringly.

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“Fresh blood!” Alastor exclaimed with a mad excitement, “Superb!”

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“Does Beelzebub now know of your betrayal?” Eligos then asked just to be sure.

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“I haven’t told him, but I think by now he either noticed it or someone informed him of it.” Malakai admitted honestly, trying not to lose his confidence.

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“It’s irrelevant anyway.” Alastor then said, “I sent him a messenger, requesting to join us against Erebus and other allies of the Utopia. Foolishly he declined the offer.”

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“Then he is our enemy.” Malakai stated without a hint of remorse.

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“Exactly!” Alastor spoke in a booming voice, “This means we will have to kill him… or more accurately – you will have to kill him.”

Alastor pointed at Malakai when he said that last part. Malakai was rather surprised, as he thought he already proved his loyalty to the Pandemonium forces. It seemed they still wanted to test him some more.