- “This must be Mantus’ and Mania’s private chamber.” Eligos said as soon as he approached Alastor’s position.
- “What are we waiting for then? Get the ram ready!” Alastor barked at him.
The demons that just arrived at the location after Eligos heard Alastor and quickly began getting the battering ram into the position. The doors to the leaders’ chamber were big and thick, just like the ones in every other sector. Nevertheless, with enough smashing with the right equipment, they could be knocked down.
To Alastor’s and Eligos’ surprise, however, before they could produce the first hit, the doors swung open. Alastor stood bewildered for a second, but then turned to Eligos:
- “Time for the final touch!”
Eligos gave a slight nod and the two of them entered the chamber, with their demon fighters coming right after them. The room the leaders were in was fairly large, circular, and well decorated. The walls had a unique design as parts of them were protruding, creating a very irregular surface. The floor consisted of several huge platforms floating in a massive pond of dark water. Mantus and Mania sat on a joint throne at the very end of the room.
Mantus and Mania ruled the Den of Retribution together as husband and wife. Both looked like one another a lot. They both had incredibly dark skin, dark hair, and wore somewhat matching coloured clothes. They were also both unnaturally slim.
As soon as the warriors of Pandemonium entered the chamber, all four of the bodyguards in the room reacted and crossed their path.
- “I would spare your precious bodyguards from total obliteration if I were you.” Eligos shouted over to the leaders.
There was a total silence for a few moments, and then Mantus recalled the guards, heeding Eligos’ words. Alastor and Eligos stepped closer, but did not go onto the floating platforms, as the leaders could command those to instantly flip and to send the attackers deep underwater to the very bottom where they would be devoured by vile aquatic beasts.
- “What brings you here?” Mantus addressed the two demon generals at that point.
Chapter 12
Continue to Believe
Being filled with extreme disappointment, the dark angels of Erebus were now back in their home sector. Shortly after departing from Den of Retribution, some of the angels decided to fly to their respective sectors and to warn their leaders of what was happening, as the boat journey would’ve taken long due to the route back requiring them to traverse a large portion of the Underworld. Only a handful of the dark angels remained with the infantry troops on the boats.
After landing not far from Hades’ palace, Azrael and his team began walking very briskly and discussing everything, whilst Gideon’s team and Athalia were just behind them.
- “The situation has gotten out of hand.” Azrael was saying, “Some news came from Purgatory just now. The angels they sent to fight Garridan had failed, what means that he is still out there.”
- “Then maybe we should stop playing games and just head to the External World right now as a big team and put an end to him.” Adelais suggested.
- “I think this is exactly what might happen. Last time they sent three. I think the team will be twice as big this time round.” Azrael speculated.
- “Yes, but I don’t think we can send everyone out there. There are so many other important matters happening in here.” Ethel pointed out.
- “It seems the Abyss sector is greatly helping out the Pandemonium forces, and now they also have Malakai. This reminds me… Adelais, what happened back there?” Azrael was curious.
- “What do you mean?” Adelais didn’t quite get what Azrael was asking him.
- “Malakai sent Aurora to fight you, making sure the two of you were well away from everyone else. I wonder why he did that. But is she dead?”
- “No.” Adelais looked down as he said that, “I couldn’t kill her.”
- “Then she would still be helping Malakai.” Azrael concluded almost straight away.
- “I know, but I will not kill her, regardless of what she does.” Adelais let his team know where he stood on the matter, “I still believe she can change.”
- “All right, but be careful.” Azrael warned him as they stopped walking for a moment, “Don’t take things for granted. Your attachment to her could be dangerous.”
Adelais didn’t want to say anything. He knew what Azrael said made sense, but he refused to consider any possibility of Aurora being irreversibly corrupted. He was confused at this point. Although he said horrible things to Aurora back in the Den, he was now greatly regretting saying them, because he was no longer angry and could think clearly. He realised that he was too harsh on her and should’ve instead been more open-minded. She needed help and he failed to respond accordingly.
- “Anyway, I am going to tell Lord Hades everything that happened so far.” Azrael let his team know, “You three stay here. I think Lord Hades is likely to summon all the dark angels to his chamber to discuss further plans.”
- “That’s fine. We will be around.” Ethel assured him.
On that note Azrael left to Hades’ palace, whilst Ethel, Lazarus, and Adelais remained where they were. Adelais was still standing silently and thinking about Azrael’s words.
- “Adelais, may I ask something?” Ethel turned to him here.
- “Go ahead.” Adelais responded without lifting his eyes off the ground.
- “What is it about Aurora that captivates you so much?”
Ethel’s question rang loudly in his head and he kept wondering exactly how to answer her. Her question was smart, because he wasn’t entirely sure why Aurora appealed to him. After contemplating on it for a few seconds, he looked up and began speaking:
- “I want to be there with her. She is a good individual, very innocent, and I don’t want bad influences to ruin her life any further.”
- “That makes sense.” Ethel appeared to understand.
- “I think the same could be said about many people who become dark angels.” Lazarus spoke here.
- “You’re right.” Adelais agreed, “But I just… care for her. I understand her… I think.”
- “Of course.” Ethel could see what he was saying, “This is something we, inherent angels, will never know.”
After those words Adelais quickly recalled his early interims in the Underworld, the time when he had romantic feelings for Ethel.
It was just over a term since Adelais joined the Erebus sector as a dark angel. He was starting to grasp the way of life in it, as well as getting better at combat. Many things fascinated him about the Underworld, but in particular he found himself really liking Ethel’s company. She was incredibly alluring. The way she had always been so radiant and positive was bringing light to him.
At one of the interims, shortly after a small battle against a handful of demonic intruders, Azrael and Lazarus left to report the incidence to Hades, whilst Ethel and Adelais remained. Ethel kept gazing at him strangely; her blue eyes as beautiful as ever. He noticed her doing that for a couple of interims, but now she did it even more.
- “What is it, Ethel?” he asked suddenly.
Ethel gave a gentle sigh at that stage. She didn’t seem to know how to explain things. Adelais was watching her carefully as he was curious what she’d say.
- “I can sense your romantic feelings for me.” She said here, “I sensed them for a while, but didn’t know how to break it to you.”
Adelais felt rather surprised there, but at the same time a little anxious. He did not expect that at all and was lost.
- “I… I am sorry. I do have those feelings.” He confessed.
- “I know, but… I am sorry that I cannot reciprocate them.”
Adelais was starting to feel really uncomfortable with this conversation. He had feelings for Ethel, but he was hoping to keep it quiet, as he knew this could easily interfere with him being one of the Underworld’s guardians. Now that Ethel brought it up, he didn’t know how to explain himself. By the lo
oks of it, Ethel could see his discomfort.
- “I can understand that.” Adelais gave a short response finally.
- “You see I am an inherent dark angel and hence I have never been a human before. We cannot experience romantic feelings. That is only something gifted to humans.” She explained concisely.
- “I wish I didn’t have these feelings.” He then said in a slightly grieving tone, “But I can’t help them.”
- “Don’t say that. I am sure those feelings are wonderful, and it is only my curse that I cannot ever experience them. I do love you, but only as a fellow angel.” Ethel greatly sympathized with him there. She approached him and hugged him tightly.
It wasn’t exactly a happy memory, but it still brought a smile to Adelais’ face. His feelings for Ethel were very strong back then, and it took him nearly half a year to finally start seeing Ethel as a fellow angel as opposed to a romantic interest. He met many female angels since then, and he tried his best to always see them as fellow angels. However, it all changed once he met Aurora for the first time. He gave in, especially that for a brief time she reciprocated the love. Now his feelings were deep again, and he couldn’t pull out. He made a firm decision that he would stick with them till the end. For all he knew, Aurora was merely manipulated by the demon kind, and her strange repulsive behaviour recently was not genuine.
His thoughts were interrupted when Azrael and Gideon called everyone. Gideon’s team was not far from the palace either, and the two teams fused together before reaching the main stairs leading to the palace entrance.
The atmosphere in the leaders’ chamber in Den of Retribution was intense, and the two demon generals decided to really press hard on their foes.
- “We are here on our master’s request to submit this sector to his command.” Eligos said to Mantus, cutting straight to the point.
- “Why does he need this sector? He has a strong army already.” Mantus couldn’t seem to understand.
- “It is not in your authority to question him.” Eligos responded coldly, “You have a choice. That is all. You either surrender and do as master Lucifer pleases, or we destroy the remainder of this sector till there’s naught left.”
- “I’d prefer the latter choice.” Alastor answered Eligos’ question.
Eligos gazed at his fellow demon general for a moment, and then, without commenting on his unintelligent remark, turned back to Mantus and Mania.
- “It’s not a choice really.” Mantus began rationalising, “We just have to submit I guess.”
- “Don’t give up so easily. Is there nothing we can do?” Mania looked at her husband questioningly.
- “I am afraid not. They crushed all our defences.” Mantus said sadly, “We can only hope help arrives soon.”
- “Don’t count on it.” Alastor threatened, “We will throw them out of here once again.”
- “If you try to betray my master, mark my words, you will be destroyed.” Eligos threatened the leaders even more so than Alastor did.
- “As if you two aren’t plotting against him yourselves.” Mania retaliated, “Your so-called ‘order’ is extremely unstable. Every single one of you wants to overthrow your master.”
- “Just because we want to, doesn’t mean we will act upon it.” Alastor pointed out.
- “Precisely said.” Eligos agreed with Alastor, “If there is something we respect, it’s power. Our master is much more powerful than us combined. We know better than to rebel against him. We aren’t stupid exactly.”
A silence followed right after that. Mantus and Mania uncomfortably looked away from the demons and then at each other, not knowing what else to say and how else to retaliate. They were stranded. They had to choose between submission and death.
Alastor was getting impatient. He began looking around the chamber out of boredom, eventually focusing his gaze on the guards. He decided to entertain himself and imagine how he could kill them. Fantasizing about the various ways to kill someone was something he adored doing whilst bored. His fantasies, however, were soon interrupted.
- “All right.” Mantus finalised, “We surrender. It’s all that we can do.”
- “Now what do you need from us?” Mania continued.
- “Once your army is restored, our master would summon them. It’d be wise of you to obey him. He has many uses for your soldiers.” Eligos briefly explained to the two leaders.
At that point Eligos turned back and headed for the exit out of the chamber. Alastor followed right after him, and the two of them, along with the demon soldiers that helped them to storm the palace, left the chamber. Now that the negotiation was over, they could head back to their home sector and deliver the good news. However, first they had to assign some of their troops to remain in the sector and to be on a watch in case any of the Den’s allies came to liberate the sector again.
Chapter 13
Clandestine Force
Adelais followed the other dark angels into Hades’ private room. There weren’t many angels there – only Azrael’s team, Gideon’s team, and Athalia. Hades was nervously pacing around the room. Adelais rarely saw him so distraught. Once everyone was in and the doors closed, Hades addressed Athalia first and asked her about what she was planning to do.
- “My sector has been taken over by demons. If I stayed behind, I most likely would’ve been made to serve Pandemonium.” She explained, “I don’t want to be a part of that, but I have nowhere else to go right now.”
- “That makes sense. You can stay in this sector until the situation smoothens out.” Hades understood her position, “If it doesn’t, you can join us permanently, as did the remaining dark angels of Infernal Pit recently when their leader perished.”
Athalia nodded understandingly, at which point Hades moved on to the next topic, except his words were soon cut off. A chilling wind streamed into the chamber, and very soon there was a blizzard inside it. That was the arrival of one of their allies. Within moments the blizzard subsided and Lady Hel appeared in the centre of the room.
- “What a pleasant surprise!” Hades exclaimed.
- “I hope I am not interrupting anything.” Hel spoke after seeing a group of dark angels.
- “No, we were just discussing the current situation. I assume you must want to participate in the same discussion.” Hades guessed.
- “Indeed I do.” Hel replied, “But not for long. My lovely beasts are waiting for me back home.”
The leaders were obliged to stay in their respective sectors at all times, which was why they never marched with their armies during war times with other sectors or to the External World. They had to remain in their sector and to watch over the matters. Even the leaders who turned against the Creator still obeyed this rule, because they didn’t want their sectors to stay unguarded. However, if one leader needed to consult with another sector’s leader, they were allowed to visit each other for brief periods of time and to leave one of their generals temporarily in charge. The two rival leaders could not visit each other in such a manner due to certain ethereal barriers each sector had. Since each and every leader was a deity, those barriers only allowed access to those deities the leader of the sector deemed as allies.
- “So far we know Lucifer has been building an army.” Hades began, “As we saw not so long ago, he began putting this army to use by attacking the sectors which aren’t on his side. He succeeded in conquering Den of Retribution. This only leaves four more sectors and the Utopia.”
- “The question is who is he going to attack next?” Hel mentioned, “Each one of our sectors is vulnerable against them, but together, if we unite, we will be able to repel the attack.”
- “Good point.” Hades agreed, “Merely fortifying defences will not suffice.”
At that instant everyone heard a sharp slashing sound. They turned in the direction of the noise and saw someone teleport into the chamber. It was another allied leader, the leader of Purgatory sector, Lord Yama. Yama looked like a tough warrior. His skin wa
s of pale viridian colour, eyes hollow, similar to those of adopted dark angels, and he wore red-coloured armor.
- “Lord Yama, excellent timing.” Hades welcomed.
- “It appears I was not the only one concerned for my sector.” Yama noted when he saw Hel being in the room too.
- “Yes. Lady Hel pointed out just now that all our sectors are in danger unless we concentrate our entire armies in the one which is the next target of the Pandemonium forces.” Hades enlightened him.
- “That is correct.” Yama agreed, “Which is why I sent several of my dark angels to investigate the next step those demons would take. Additionally, we still have Garridan to take care of. The last three angels I sent did not return.”
- “We should send a bigger team this time.” Azrael suggested at that moment, “If my team and one other team go together, I am sure we can succeed.”
- “Yes, I think we need to handle Garridan right now and get him out of the way. We would not want to have any distractions whilst getting ready for Pandemonium’s next move.” Hades mentioned.
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