Decadence

by Matthew Ashworth

  - “They are here I take it.”

  Beelzebub was as usual sitting in the centre of the room, in his usual nonchalant manner, and was enjoying the company of numerous buzzing oversized insects around him.

  - “They are.” Malakai confirmed, “They say they need my help.”

  - “What do they need help with?” Beelzebub was curious to know all the details.

  - “Lucifer has an agent of destruction in the External World, as you know. They asked if I could help them with bringing him down.” Malakai explained.

  - “And you know how to do that?”

  - “My spy messenger returned just before they got here. It’s not quite as simple, but I think I know of the way.”

  - “If you are sure, you have my permission to go. Lucifer is a threat to us all. I hope you can find out some more about what he is planning right now. I suspect he is about to start another war. It’s a bit overdue I must admit.” Beelzebub instructed whilst at the same time trying to warn Malakai.

  Malakai nodded, showing that he understood his master’s every word. Beelzebub was then about to dismiss him, but Malakai resumed speaking:

  - “There is one other thing, master.”

  - “What is it?”

  - “I think the Erebus troops are up to something too.” Malakai lied, even though right after saying that he wondered if there was truth to that.

  - “And what would that be?” Beelzebub was curious.

  - “They wouldn’t just come here asking for our help. They are much closer with Helheim and a few other sectors, not to mention the fact that we apparently attacked them recently too. It’s strange that they came to us and not to any of their other allies. I think they either want to wage war on us or to force us to join them.” Malakai clarified on his point.

  - “This could be quite problematic, but we shouldn’t rush to accuse them. For now we require their cooperation. If they, however, do wage war on us, then we will pulverize them into dust.” Beelzebub stated with satisfaction.

  - “I understand. In that case I will be on my way.” Malakai said, and then turned towards the exit and went out.

  Trying to convince Beelzebub of anything was hard. After all, he was assigned to be a leader of an entire sector for a reason. He wasn’t stupid. Malakai, however, couldn’t care less about the orders the forces of Pandemonium gave him. He had his own goals and ideals. Allying with them was only temporary at best. Being controlled like a puppet wasn’t something Malakai wanted, and hence changing sides wasn’t good to him, unless he was hoping to exploit that side. For now he decided to leave Beelzebub’s suspicion and scepticism on par with each other and to worry about other things. The souls in the Abode that Pandemonium forces gained control over interested him the most. He knew it would’ve been ideal if he could seize control of those and to build an army for himself.

  When he got back to the room he left Azrael and the other Erebus angels in, he lost his track of thought. Azrael walked up to him straight away. Adelais and the others got up and joined him as well at that second.

  - “So what will it be?” Azrael asked.

  - “I’ll help you. However, you must know some things about Garridan. My spy messenger gave me some really interesting information about him.” Malakai spoke.

  - “We’re listening.”

  - “He was definitely sent by Lucifer, and hence you won’t be able to destroy him normally. Every time he hits so much as a bit of resistance, the demonic forces would pull him out of the battlefield.” Malakai began explaining.

  This already confused the Erebus angels, but they decided to keep on listening.

  - “Then we need to stop the demonic forces from doing that.” Adelais pointed out.

  - “Precisely.” Malakai confirmed, “There are three temples in Pandemonium where the profane energies are fed to certain individuals in the External World. We will need to devastate one of those temples in order to colossally weaken Garridan and to render him unable to flee from battle.”

  - “Are you sure about all this?” Azrael didn’t want to leave it to chance.

  - “Yes. I know where it’s located. However, as you know, Pandemonium is defended too well. We will need to sneak in. That’s why I suggest no more than two of you come with me. Three individuals will be small enough of a force to get in unnoticed and large enough to be a solid offensive team.” Malakai reasoned.

  Azrael instantly began thinking over Malakai’s suggestion. He knew Malakai could be leading them into a trap, but the idea did sound feasible. Azrael couldn’t quite understand why Malakai would attack a temple belonging to the Pandemonium if he secretly was working for them. It smelled too much like a trap. Pulling out, however, would lead them nowhere. He had to take a risk.

  - “Is this the only way to do it?” Azrael asked Malakai just to be sure.

  - “I very much believe so.” Malakai nodded.

  - “Fine. In that case I’ll send off two of my angels.”

  - “Actually, I would prefer if someone stayed here and took my place whilst I’m out of here.”

  Azrael quickly looked over his troops and began making quick decisions in his head. Within seconds he decided and spoke up:

  - “Ethel, I’d like you to come with us.”

  Ethel nodded silently as soon as he said that.

  - “Adelais, you should stay here and take Malakai’s place temporarily. Can you do that?”

  - “I definitely can. What would I need to do?” Adelais assured him.

  - “Just stay here in case my master needs you, or in case there is an attack on the sector.” Malakai told him, “Oh and also, could you watch out for my troop, especially Aurora? She’s been acting strange lately.”

  - “Sure.” Adelais nodded agreeably.

  - “Thank you, good friend.”

  When Malakai finished talking to Adelais, Azrael turned to Lazarus:

  - “Lazarus, I’d like you to go back to Erebus and inform Lord Hades of what we’re about to do. It is important that he knows about this. We could be held up, or worse – killed.”

  - “I will let him know.” Lazarus gave his word.

  - “Good. In this case, let us go.” Malakai spoke up as he clapped his hands.

  - “I pray that our Creator will guide and protect you.” Adelais said to them just as they were about to leave.

  Whilst Adelais remained behind in the cave complex, and Lazarus flew to the docks to head back to Erebus, Malakai led Azrael and Ethel to the outskirts of Pandemonium. They decided to travel there by flight.

  Chapter 13

  The Source

  Malakai headed straight for the Pandemonium, with Azrael and Ethel following him. They crossed the river Lethe very soon and found themselves in the Pandemonium grounds. As soon as they reached it, Malakai took a sharp turn to the left and began flying along the river edge. From the directions his messenger gave him, he knew exactly where he was going. He didn’t know if Azrael and Ethel had faith that he was taking them the right way, but so far it seemed that they did.

  Very soon he dived straight down and sharply landed onto the hard ground. Azrael and Ethel followed suit. It was a mountainous area, very close to where Malakai was earlier, and there was a big dark cavern entrance just ahead, slightly hidden out of sight by large rocks.

  - “This is the way.” Malakai said to the others.

  - “Are you certain?” Ethel asked.

  - “Yes.”

  Without further ado, Malakai went ahead, towards the cave mouth. Azrael and Ethel followed closely behind, carefully watching for anything suspicious. As soon as Malakai entered the cave, he waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, and once that was the case, he continued further. The others did exactly the same. The cave tunnel wasn’t overly narrow, but it was greatly twisting in various directions, meaning they had to proceed cautiously and with great patience.

  - “I will be going ahead and scanning the area. If it’s clear, I will be signalling you to come.” Malakai
suggested all of a sudden.

  - “Why can’t we stick together?” Azrael wondered.

  - “Because, first of all, it’s harder to spot an individual than a group, and secondly, if something happens to me, at least you’ll be able to get out safely.” Malakai explained his suggestion.

  - “All right.” Azrael acknowledged.

  At that moment Malakai went ahead carefully, watching for any guards, whereas Azrael and Ethel remained behind and waited for his signal. As soon as Malakai turned a corner and was no longer seen by the others, he mentally summoned one of his messengers. He already gave the messenger instructions to follow him before they took off. Now that he made a mental connection with the messenger, the messenger flew into the cave through another entrance that was just ahead and came to him.

  - “Go and warn Alastor and other demons of a raid that is about to happen on one of their temples.” He whispered to the messenger and sent it out straight away.

  Malakai had to do that. Even though he was planning to succeed in destroying the temple for his own goals, he needed to give the Pandemonium forces a sign that he wasn’t acting against them, but instead merely doing this to gain the trust of Erebus dark angels. Once the messenger was gone from his sight, he backtracked to where Ethel and Azrael were waiting for him.

  The moment Malakai disappeared from sight to scan the section ahead, Azrael turned to Ethel and began quietly but clearly warning her:

  - “Ethel, listen to me carefully. There is a high probability that this is a trap. It seems to make no sense to me as to why Malakai would go against those he recently joined. Moreover, he took only two of us and led us away from our troops. There might be an ambush further ahead.”

  - “Then why did we come on the first place?” Ethel couldn’t understand.

  - “Because if this isn’t a trap, we could accomplish a lot. It’s the risk I am willing to take. It might also help us learn what Malakai is up to now.” Azrael justified his choice to her.

  - “I will stand by you, Azrael, no matter what. You’re my commander and my friend.” Ethel gave him her word.

  - “Thank you, Ethel. The reason I picked you to come with me is because you’re a shieldmaster. If we do end up stumbling onto a trap, I would need you to be ready to shield us from danger.” Azrael continued saying as Ethel kept taking everything in.

  - “I will do that, but my shields can still be broken if enough force is applied against them.” Ethel reminded him; she knew the potency of her abilities very well.

  - “It will at least give us some time to analyse the situation and find a way out of it.”

  After Azrael said that, Ethel didn’t dispute his decision. What he said made sense to her, and she obediently nodded. The situation indeed felt like a trap, and therefore she had to be ready to create an energetic shield around her and her commander when the time came.

  After waiting for a little longer, the two of them saw Malakai gesturing to them to come. They proceeded ahead cautiously, watching their backs at all times. Malakai was watchful too, but not as much as them. He seemed to be in a bit of a rush, and Ethel couldn’t quite understand why.

  Once they made several turns and passed a small empty chamber, Malakai once again asked them to stay put whilst he checked the next section out. Ethel and Azrael stood in silence, observing their surroundings and hoping that nothing would attack them from the darkness. Malakai returned fairly fast and told them he saw the cave exit. The three of them headed for it, and once out of the cave, they saw several paths in between the cliffs, leading somewhere. The area itself was greatly enclosed by cliffs from all sides, and so it was hard to know where exactly the paths led.

  - “Which path are we taking?” Azrael questioned as soon as they stopped.

  - “This one.” Malakai pointed to the left-most path.

  Azrael and Ethel, just as before, had no other choice but to trust Malakai. They followed right after him along a relatively short path, just to pass around the side of the cliff. Once they made the final turn, they saw the temple ahead. The temple was tremendous. There were at least five floors in it, and overall it occupied a somewhat of a large area. It had a perfectly square base, very few windows, and the almost completely black walls were smooth and faultless.

  - “I believe this is it.” Malakai said as soon as they saw the temple in front of them.

  Ethel was rather surprised, because she expected for them to have stumbled onto a trap by now. However, Malakai was still acting normally, and there seemed to be no ambushes waiting for them. Nevertheless, she decided to continue staying alert till the end of the mission.

  The temple had several demons guarding the front doors. For the most part, those demons looked barbaric and unintelligent. Azrael and Ethel began scanning the temple defences and trying to come up with the most suitable strategy of gaining entrance. Malakai, however, was already prepared to go in.

  - “Let me startle them by surprise.” He said, “I’ll initiate the attack, you two finish it. Would that suffice?”

  - “Yes. We will be ready.” Azrael confirmed.

  Malakai then flew upwards and grabbed onto a high ledge of a cliff above them. Whilst keeping an eye on the demon guards below, he began crawling along the side of the cliff towards the temple. Azrael and Ethel were watching him carefully from their cover and had their weapons ready. When Malakai finally got close enough to the temple, he let go off the cliff and plunged downwards at two of the guards. He managed to control his falling speed so that it wouldn’t hurt him on impact but would take out his targets. Eventually he landed onto both demon guards as he planned, knocking them both out. The other three reacted at that stage and charged at him with full speed. These demons were simple bipedal monstrosities. They had rough, brownish skin, sharp nails on hands, and a feline face. Despite having sharp claws, each one carried a weapon. As soon as the three of them ran to attack the intruder, Azrael and Ethel came out of their cover and flew towards them. Azrael collided with the front-most demon from the side and brought it to the ground. Ethel attacked the next one in line with a swift slash of her curved blade. The slash injured the demon and enraged it. It quickly reacted to the attack and focused its infuriated gaze on her. After giving off a roar, the guard swung with its big axe in order to attack her. Ethel waited for the demon to get closer, and when it did, she darted towards it and sliced it across the stomach, creating a very deep wound. The demon collapsed onto its knees and then on its face and died.

  Malakai handled the last one as it came at him with full speed. The demon guard jumped at him whilst thrusting its spear forward. Malakai, however, being a blazemaster, released a ball of fire at it, striking it in the air. The demon got stunned and fell to the ground, what gave Malakai a perfect chance to finish it off with his trustworthy great sword. By that time Azrael was done with his opponent as well, and the coast was clear.

  The three of them approached the front door, and Malakai kicked it open. The temple antechamber was spacious and full of statues of different shapes and sizes, as well as numerous doors. It had exquisite ornaments of various colours twisting in unusual shapes on the walls and the floor, and it had a lot of torches lit on every wall. There were a handful of guards in there too. As soon as those reacted to the presence of intruders, Malakai blasted them all with exploding fireballs, bringing them all down. Those that survived were finished off with great ease, and hence the resistance was eliminated once again.

  - “Now which way?” Ethel asked whilst gazing at all the doors in front of them.

  Malakai took a careful glance around. He too didn’t seem to be sure which door they had to go through.

  - “Ideally we would destroy the entire place, but it would take a long time, and we will not make it out of here in time before reinforcements arrived.” Malakai reasoned.

  He then approached one of the doors and swung it open. Two demons were behind it, but they weren’t armed. In fact, they did not look like fighters at all, but mere servants i
n the temple. Malakai grabbed one of them by the throat and spoke:

  - “Tell us now where you’re keeping the shrine to Garridan.”

  The demon obeyed instantly and pointed to one of the doors in the main hall. Malakai released the demon, and whilst keeping an eye on it, began approaching the door.

  - “This better not to be a lie.” He said threateningly once he stopped right at the door.

  The demon shook its head in fear, and Malakai opened the door with full confidence. It led into a big round chamber. Several other servant demons were there. Malakai stepped inside immediately, showing no fear. Azrael and Ethel walked up to the doorway too and glanced inside before entering. The demonic servants got intimidated and backed away. There was a statuette in the centre of the room. It looked a lot like Garridan and seemed to have been freshly made. All around it were small blackened crystals, and the entire room was well lit with numerous fires along the entire circumference of the wall.

  - “A shrine to Garridan.” Malakai spoke slowly without taking his eyes away from the statue in the middle of the room.