Transgression

by Matthew Ashworth

  - “We’re sorry we have to kill you, Garridan. You’ve left us with no other choice.” Azrael began speaking to the rogue knight.

  - “If you truly are the servants of the divine, then why are you impeding me from killing the wicked? Isn’t that what He wants?” Garridan gave them an interesting question.

  - “No.” Azrael sternly replied, “The wicked do not just disappear when you kill them.”

  - “Maybe not for you, but they sure will be gone from this world.” Garridan argued.

  - “This world is merely a playground.” Azrael corrected him, “It doesn’t matter who leaves it first and who last. What matters is where you end up after you die. Do you choose to join our Creator or do you choose to join the emptiness of the Void? I sure hope you’ll make a choice that’s right for you, Garridan.”

  At that second Azrael turned to Adelais and nodded to him, meaning that Adelais had the honour of delivering the finishing strike. Adelais faced Garridan there and instantly thrust his sword at him. Garridan, however, didn’t give up so easily. With all the remaining energy in him, he kicked Adelais’ blade off his hands, then came out of Amadeus’ and Samoel’s grasp, and finally ran towards Adelais in order to strike him down. Adelais, now unarmed, had no other option but to kick Garridan. His kick was strong and managed to push the enemy back a significant distance. Upon stumbling back, Garridan landed with his torso directly onto Ethel’s blade. The blade punctured right through his back and came out of the front. Ethel was surprised herself and was frozen in her position. The demon knight could no longer move and eventually died. After realising the enemy was dead, Ethel took her blade out of him.

  - “Is it over?” Adelais asked his commander.

  - “For us it is. For Garridan it’s only just beginning.” Azrael replied, and the five of them were ready to get back to the Internal World.

  Chapter 15

  The Forgotten

  Malakai and Aurora were finally making their way back. They exited the dungeon and were back outside, ready to fly into the air and to head in the Southern direction, where their sector was.

  - “Wait.” Malakai announced here and focused on the two distant figures that were approaching from the sky.

  - “Who is that?” Aurora wondered.

  Malakai didn’t answer. He continued gazing far ahead and trying to figure out who those were. They felt familiar, but it wasn’t until they came close enough and landed that Malakai actually recognized them. They were the dark angels who served together with him in this sector.

  - “Nathaniel, Meira!” Malakai spoke with astonishment, “You two have survived. This is great news.”

  - “Save it, you traitor. What are you doing here? Came to scavenge the place?” Nathaniel retorted angrily.

  Both Nathaniel and Meira were adopted dark angels. Nathaniel was of average height and average build. His short dull-brown hair was falling on his face slightly as he had a fringe, and he was holding his glaive, which was a long polearm weapon, tightly in his hands. Meira was almost as tall as Nathaniel, but she was also very slim. She had moderately short auburn hair and was holding a keris blade, which she often used as a weapon. Both of them were dark angels for just over a year. They weren’t neophytes anymore and could fight well, but they weren’t very knowledgeable of the Underworld yet.

  - “Malakai, are they from this sector?” Aurora asked him quietly.

  - “Yes.” Malakai replied and then turned back to the two frustrated angels, “I am sorry, what is this about?”

  - “You betrayed our master and caused this sector to be relinquished.” Nathaniel answered his question accusingly.

  - “And then you fled like a coward.” Meira added.

  - “Our master was weak. If you were wise, you would’ve left him too.” Malakai told them apathetically, as if he was stating a fact.

  - “You shall dearly pay for those words.” Meira threatened him.

  - “Instead of wasting your talents, why don’t you join me? You’ll be a lot more useful this way.” Malakai proposed, even though he was pretty sure they would decline his offer.

  - “No way. The two of us survived by ourselves thus far since our sector was lost, and we plan to continue this way. However, not until we rid this ground off your presence.” Nathaniel let him know.

  - “We cannot stand traitors.” Meira added once again, “Which is why we brutally killed our commander after he decided to join the Erebus sector with the others. The same fate awaits you.”

  Malakai was rather astonished to hear that. He, however, could somewhat understand what they were going through, and therefore decided to keep a composed attitude.

  - “Look, let’s not be angry with each other. We should stick together if anything.” He tried to reason with them one last time.

  - “You are going to die right here, right now, together with your deluded follower.” Meira spoke back with a snarl.

  At that moment the two angry dark angels darted forward in order to attack the one individual they wanted to kill for some time. Malakai drew his blade out and got ready for battle. Aurora wasn’t going to let Malakai fight them both by himself and so drew her weapon out too.

  At first both Meira and Nathaniel pounced on Malakai and began assaulting him together. Malakai couldn’t find room to retaliate and was forced to keep defending with his great blade continuously. Aurora quickly charged into the fight and smacked Meira from the side with the handle of her pike. Meira stumbled back, and then the two of them began fighting each other, whilst Nathaniel continued attacking Malakai. Now that one of them was no longer attacking Malakai, he could retaliate with ease, and now Nathaniel was the one defending.

  After several failed attempts to strike down his foe, Malakai kicked Nathaniel in the torso, stunning him briefly, and then tried to bring his blade down on him. Nathaniel rolled out of the way in time and swung with his glaive, managing to smack Malakai on the side. Malakai recovered immediately and continued swinging with great blade at his opponent. Once again, all of his swings were either blocked or dodged, so he quickly changed the strategy and created a fireball in his hand. Just as he shot it out, Nathaniel jumped over it and landed onto him. Whilst holding onto Malakai, Nathaniel was trying to bring him down onto the ground. However, his attempt to do that failed when Malakai shook him off and tossed him aside. Nathaniel got back onto his feet instantly and waited for Malakai to advance again. Malakai, however, was waiting for Nathaniel to attack. The tension between them was high.

  Meira and Aurora were battling it out between each other. Meira was much faster at fighting and hence was attacking most of the time. Nonetheless, Aurora had had enough practice already to be able to hold her own, even if her technique was not yet polished. As a result, she was mostly on defensive, but could manage to block Meira’s attacks with success.

  - “Don’t follow that backstabber around.” Meira warned her at one stage, “Join us. We are a lot more reliable.”

  Aurora knew there was truth in those words, especially considering how many times Malakai failed her and brought suffering upon her. It would’ve been more beneficial for her to join Nathaniel and Meira. However, first of all, she did not yet know of what Natheniel and Meira were like and whether they were good individuals or not, and secondly, she could not bring herself to be a traitor. She simply could not turn on her commander in a blink of an eye at such a difficult time.

  - “I’m sorry.” Aurora gave a brief but to the point reply.

  At that second Meira dashed towards her and attempted to stab her in the stomach. Aurora eluded the lethal stab just in time, but then got kicked in the face. The kick disoriented her slightly, but she recovered her balance instantly and managed to produce a low sweep with her pike, catching Meira’s feet and tripping her up. The moment Meira fell down, Aurora followed it up with an overhead swing, sharply bringing her pike down on her opponent. Meira rolled out of the weapon’s path at the last second and got back to her feet before Aurora had a chance to
lift her pike back up. As a result, Meira pounced forwards at her. Aurora quickly moved her pike diagonally up in order to stop the pouncing foe, but it wasn’t fast enough. She only managed to stop Meira from stabbing her, but Meira’s momentum still knocked her down, and the two of them ended up on the ground. Meira recovered first and quickly jumped onto Aurora, bringing her keris blade down at her face. Aurora managed to catch her enemy’s hands and to stop the blade from touching her. However, she couldn’t hold on for much longer. She had to rely on her special ability. Giving it some concentration, she connected with Meira’s mind for a brief second and screeched into it as loudly as she could. The mental attack worked and Meira instantly let go. The attack appeared to have stunned her, causing her to get up slightly and to grab onto her head. At that instant Meira received a big fireball to the face, which was shot from Malakai. The impact of the fireball knocked her well back and she landed flat onto the ground.

  Aurora lifted her head up and saw Malakai standing close by. Nathaniel was on the ground not far from him, injured slightly. Aurora brought herself up on her feet immediately and rejoined with her commander.

  - “What now?” she asked.

  - “We must finish them off.” Malakai responded casually, “They would otherwise be a thorn in our side.”

  At that moment Nathaniel got back up and pushed Malakai without him expecting it. Malakai reacted fast and swung his blade at him, but Nathaniel evaded it successfully and moved quickly to where Meira lay. Malakai darted towards him in order to stop the two of them from escaping. Nathaniel instantly unleashed his special ability. He telekinetically stopped Malakai in his tracks. Although it only lasted a second, the telekinetic barrier appeared to bring Malakai to a complete halt. By the time Malakai reinitiated his sprint, Meira was already up, and together with Nathaniel they flew off with great speed.

  Malakai did not bother chasing them. It was obvious that he didn’t have time to fly after petty opponents. There were bigger and more important matters at hand, even though Aurora knew that Nathaniel and Meira would eventually be back for them. It was rather uncomfortable knowing that someone was out there plotting revenge against her and her commander.

  - “Let’s get going. If the demons realise we aren’t in the Pandemonium, they’ll get suspicious.” Malakai finally told her.

  Aurora agreed and both of them ascended into the air and flew in the direction of the Pandemonium.

  Lazarus and Athalia had to get precise instructions from Hades about what to say to the angels in the Utopia, and hence they left his palace a little after those who went to hunt for Garridan. Utopia was located directly above the Underworld, but its only access point was at the peak of Mt Sanctus. It was much further along the same path as the gateways to the External World. Due to that, Lazarus and Athalia decided not to rush, so not to get exhausted too fast. Upon reaching the river Acheron, however, they saw something they would never forget.

  Huge boats full of infantry demons were appearing out of nowhere and docking at the foot of the Mt Sanctus, right where the Utopian path began. Multitudes of demons were coming off their boats, whilst many more boats were still appearing all over the place. Lazarus only rarely had seen armies of demons of this size, and this one in fact might’ve been the largest he had ever set his eyes upon. What was even more stunning was how the entire army was concealed. The boats appearing out of thin air only meant that they were masked by a powerful illusion, most likely to prevent anyone from detecting the army beforehand.

  - “Lazarus, what is happening? Where are all those demons going?” Athalia asked him suddenly, causing him to snap out from glaring at the terrifying sight.

  - “I think they might be heading to attack the Utopia.” Lazarus speculated with fright.

  - “Then we need to warn them.”

  - “The Utopia must’ve already located them. However, we might want to get back to Lord Hades and tell him about it. The Utopia would undoubtedly need our help.”

  - “Then let’s hurry before things get critical.” Athalia advised.

  On that note the two of them rushed back to their sector and flew as quickly as they could back to Hades’ palace. They reached the entrance very soon and stormed inside. The judges guarding Hades’ chamber were confused to see them return so fast. Lazarus told them that an extremely desperate situation came up unexpectedly and that they needed to speak to Hades right away. Uncertainly the judges allowed them through.

  - “Lord Hades, there’s a…” Lazarus began, but got quickly interrupted by Hades.

  - “I know. I’ve just received a messenger from Lord Yama.” Hades said, “The Utopia is about to be attacked.”

  - “Yes, exactly.” Lazarus confirmed, “We must do something.”

  - “We need to assemble several dark angels and to send them out as help. I think every other sector allied with them would send some too. Has Azrael not returned yet?”

  - “No. They are still in the External World.”

  - “Then we need to send a messenger to them to get back here quickly.”

  - “I will be right on it.” Lazarus gave his word.

  On that note he, along with Athalia, rushed out of Hades’ chamber to send a messenger to their teammates, whilst Hades began dispatching messengers to the other dark angels in his sector to warn them about what was happening. The situation had turned from difficult to highly critical, and they needed to make decisions fast.

  Chapter 16

  Prompt Preparation

  Adelais and the others were thrown back out of the gateway and were now at the Utopian Path once again. Their mission in stopping Garridan was a success, and it was now the time to enlighten their leader, Hades, about it. Without losing much time, the five of the dark angels flew up above the ground and began heading towards the Underworld via the Utopian Path.

  Once they began getting to the end of it and approaching the river Acheron, they noticed an unusual sight. They saw colossal numbers of demons coming from that direction and heading towards the Utopia. Fear overtook all of them and they panicked for a brief second.

  - “An attack on the Utopia!” Amadeus finally spoke.

  - “We must warn our leaders.” Ethel suggested.

  - “They probably know already.” Azrael responded to her suggestion, “But we should go back quickly and see what they want us to do. It is highly likely we would be sent out to be a part of Utopia’s defence during the attack.”

  They made haste in an instant and split once they reached the Acheron river. Amadeus and Samoel went back to the Purgatory, whilst Azrael and his team went back to Erebus. As soon as they crossed the river, a messenger came across them.

  - “Good angels, your teammate Lazarus says you are urgently needed in Lord Hades’ chamber…”

  - “We know. We’ve just seen the demons marching to the Utopia.” Azrael interrupted.

  The messenger understood and at that second left them whilst they flew hurriedly towards Hades’ palace. With the speed they flew, they reached it fast, and the moment they landed, they spotted Lazarus. He joined with them, and the four of them rushed inside.

  Every single dark angel of Erebus was now inside Hades’ room. Hades decided to make this meeting very quick as they did not have much time on their hands. Everyone was listening to him very attentively. Even though it was not their sector that was in danger, Utopia was still a top priority location in the entire Internal World, and every angel was obliged to defend it. However, it was still common for the leaders of each sector to leave a handful of dark angels in their sector, as the sectors needed a good defence at all times.

  - “As you all must’ve heard, an enormous army of demons is heading towards the Utopia as we speak. The forces of Utopia most likely can repel the attack successfully. However, it is our duty to help them, because we cannot allow the Utopia’s defences to be weakened. This could merely be the first wave. The next wave after that could easily overcome the weakened defences.” Hades was explaining to everyo
ne in the room.

  - “And so Lucifer finally transgressed once again.” Azrael noted, “Do we know what he is planning this time?”

  - “Unfortunately we do not, which is why we have to be alert and to adapt to the situation quickly.” Hades replied, “I think the attack on the Den of Retribution was perhaps a diversion to distract us from the real attack – this one.”

  - “Now that we’ve stopped Garridan, could that impede the production of demons?” Adelais asked his leader.

  - “I doubt it.” Hades answered negatively, “He might’ve only killed two or three dozen of people or so. Of those maybe only a handful would choose to become demons, and even then, humans usually become the demon commanders. The multitudes of minions are obtained by other means.”

  - “There is another issue.” Lazarus spoke here, “When Athalia and I have noticed the demons getting off the boats, there was a powerful illusion concealing the whole army whilst they were traversing the rivers.”

  - “Then someone in that army of theirs might be a powerful illusionist. We must be careful.” Hades pointed out in response.

  After that was said, Hades decided that it was time. He allocated the teams that would go to protect the Utopia, and also mentioned to them the number of erinyes to take with them. The dark angels hurried out of the palace and got to their task. Whereas some remained in the sector to defend, in case Lucifer would attack this sector whilst the assault on Utopia was going, majority of others headed to the location their army units were located. After having successfully picked out over 40 units of erinyes, the team of dark angels flew in the Northern direction, to cross the river Acheron, and eventually to set on the Utopian Path.