The forefront of the demon army was almost as far up the Mt Sanctus as the gateways to the External World when the angels saw them again, even though the army of demons stretched out for quite a distance. It went almost as far back as the river bank.
- “I am fairly sure this army looked smaller the last time we saw it.” Adelais said to his teammates.
- “Yes, well not all of them were here back then.” Azrael pointed out to him.
- “Can we possibly handle them all?” Athalia was feeling doubtful.
- “We are going to be united with the Utopian angels, as well as dark angels from Helheim, Purgatory, and Limbo… once they arrive that is. I think we have a good chance.” Azrael answered her question.
Adelais kept wondering what Lucifer was planning exactly. Was he going to send more demons after these ones? Or maybe this was a distraction too? Adelais knew exactly that the last time Lucifer transgressed against the Utopia was over 500 years ago. That meant that he had more than 500 years to plan a new course of action, and hence the plan could easily involve a lot of trickery. It could also end up very badly for many individuals who were fighting on both sides. Adelais gazed over at his commander, who looked very pensive as well. It was obvious Azrael was pondering on the issue too, trying to make sense of the situation and attempting to predict what Lucifer’s next step would be. Adelais then looked at his other fellow dark angels. Everyone looked determined and ready for a big battle. He realised that some of them could die in this battle. Although with this job death could catch anyone out on any mission, but partaking in a massive battle such as this one was going to promise a lot of casualties, some of which could be the individuals that he knew well.
The sky was getting lighter and lighter as the angels were nearing the Utopia. Trying not to think of the negative, Adelais braced himself mentally for an intense fight. Just like every other angel out there, he was going to give this fight everything he had, even if it meant he would be one of the casualties at the end of it.
Chapter 17
Celestial Army
The gates of Utopia finally appeared in sight. They were glistening with a bright golden colour and were noticeable from a long distance away. The entire location around the Utopia’s entrance was a lot lighter than the rest of the Internal World. There was an aura of calm and goodness in this place. Adelais could see a huge amount of angels already standing at the front of those gates, preparing to defend against the approaching demonic army. Even then, he noticed more angels were still coming from the core of the Utopia and joining the defending legion.
The dark angels from Erebus and the erinyes that were coming with them eventually arrived at the Utopian gates. They landed next to the army of angels and rushed to consult with the army leaders. The Utopia’s defence army was led by three of its archangels – Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael.
Azrael seemed to have recognized them fairly quickly, standing at the frontline, and began approaching them. Adelais and the other Erebus angels followed him. Most Utopian angels looked very similar to each other. Their skin tone was light and their hair for the most part was of lighter shades too. They all wore white armor and had white wings. The archangels Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael weren’t different from the standard foot soldiers, but they were still fairly recognizable. Gabriel’s face looked fairly stern; his grey eyes especially made it look as if he was deeply thinking about something all the time. Michael was standing right next to him. He looked slightly more rugged and prepared for a hard battle. Raphael was there too and looked the most nonchalant of them three.
- “Glad we’ve made it on time.” Azrael began the conversation with the archangels.
- “We thank you for the aid.” Gabriel responded straight after, “Looks like it’s going to be a paramount fight.”
- “Indeed it does. The forces of Pandemonium are at it again.” Azrael confirmed, “Are we the first sector from the Underworld to arrive?”
- “Yes you are, but the others should be here fairly soon.” Gabriel replied.
- “I have no doubt we would’ve been able to handle them by ourselves, but we welcome your help anyway.” Michael added here; by the looks of it he couldn’t wait to charge into the battle.
- “Yes, by all means, feel free to join. The demons are almost here.” Gabriel agreed.
Azrael gave a small nod to the archangels, and the Erebus troops finally combined with the Utopian army. They could see the demon kind approaching at the far distance, but there was still time. Many of the angels were still getting into formations and preparing a defence strategy. Adelais wondered what Malakai and Aurora were doing at that minute. Was there a chance that they would be in the upcoming army, or did these legions leave the Pandemonium whilst the battle in the Den of Retribution was still going? On the way here he could only see the demonic creatures in the opposing army, but no dark or fallen angels.
- “Don’t be so grim.” Ethel suddenly said to him, “We’re going to win this fight.”
- “I was just thinking of something else.” Adelais responded to her comment.
- “I understand.” Ethel smiled in return, “Try not to worry so much about other things. They’re not worth it.”
- “You are right” Adelais admitted, “Even though some things are just too hard to let go.”
On that note Ethel went quiet, as she most likely could apprehend what Adelais was saying. Adelais didn’t say anything either and continued staring ahead at the incoming demon army. Very soon he saw some more reinforcements coming from the allied Underworld sectors. Adelais recognized Balder and a few other dark angels in that troop, who were accompanied by a few winged valkyries, what meant that those were reinforcements from Helheim. They too landed close by to the main army and approached the archangels. Within seconds they were joining the Utopian army, right next to where Erebus troops were.
- “Looks like we’re in for one rough battle.” Adelais could hear Balder telling Azrael gleefully, despite how serious the situation was.
- “Yes, it sure would be in my top ten biggest battles.” Azrael responded to his friend with a slight smile on his face.
Once the Helheim troops got ready, everyone continued patiently standing and waiting. The demon legion was significantly closer now, and it wasn’t long before they would reach the angels. Gabriel came out of the army at that instant and hovered into the air, facing everyone on his side.
- “This is it, everybody. The demon kind is coming for us once again. Let us give this fight everything we’ve got, including our lives if necessary. I pray that our Creator would give us strength and wisdom to win this battle.”
- “Amen.” Everyone said in one voice.
Once Gabriel said that, he got back to the army, and everyone waited some more. The demons were now very close, and Adelais could see each individual creature clearly. The monstrosities looked extremely ravenous and berserk, ready to begin destruction at even the slightest opportunity. Every single angel stood his or her ground, barely even flinching, even though deep inside many were terrified of what was coming. Regardless of the tremendous threat, each and every one of them was ready to go all out in this fight. The number of angels was much smaller than the number of the fiends that were approaching, but each angel was the equivalent to over a dozen of infantry demons, not to mention a respectable number of the supporting creatures that were in the Utopian army as well.
The pounding of thousands of demons kept getting louder and louder. Once the demons came within an attacking distance, every single angel spoke in one voice:
- “Thy will be done.”
Immediately after saying that, the angels charged forward to meet the incoming army of Pandemonium spawn. The initial clash was gruesome. Many demons got destroyed just at the first impact. Some angels suffered too, but they managed to recover their formation very quickly and continued the battle. More and more demons were joining the fight with each second, gradually starting to overwhelm the angels and the other crea
tures that supported them. Majority of the demon army were ground units, which included creatures such as serpentine beings with short limbs, winged hounds which could hover in the air for a few seconds, bull-like creatures that mainly charged with great speed, and also some humanoid looking demons with various deformations, such as overly long arms or extremely huge jaws. There were aerial demons too, which had a dragon-like appearance, but they were very few in numbers.
Adelais was fighting close to his teammates, Azrael, Ethel, and Lazarus. Athalia was sticking close to them too, as well as other Erebus and Helheim allies. They were hugely outnumbered, but through the use of teamwork and combat skill they fought off every fiend that crossed their path, having no remorse whatsoever. Adelais began concentrating hard. His focus ability kicked in and his reactions improved severely as he kept slicing his way through packs of winged hounds in a matter of seconds.
Adelais and his friends managed to push away the nearby demons back for a few seconds, but more kept coming. They began backing away again as a couple of the bull-like demons dashed towards them with incredible speed. Athalia was the first one to begin retaliating against those by casting an illusionary vision that fooled the two demons, as that was her special ability. The demons lost their accuracy and missed them completely. Adelais and Azrael had a chance then to attack those from behind and to bring them down with ease.
Straight after that they turned to the front once again and continued defending against the creatures that were still approaching. The number of demons partaking in fighting was only getting larger, and Adelais noticed that he and his allies were slowly but surely backing away, which was not a good sign. At that instant he was attacked by one of the big aerial creatures. It kept trying to bite him at first, but after Adelais retaliated with a couple of fierce sword slashes, the creature started flying back into the air. Hoping not to let it escape, Adelais grabbed onto one of its appendages and was taken into the air too. As soon as airborne, he started swinging his sword at it, attempting to strike it hard. He managed to deliver some damage to the creature, but the flying monster was still ascending. Within moments a couple of dark angels of Helheim jumped onto the creature and began stabbing it repeatedly. The monster started screaming from pain and could barely sustain its flight. Adelais then climbed higher onto the creature and with one well-aimed motion stabbed his blade into it. The monster stopped resisting there and began rapidly plunging down. Adelais let go off it immediately at that point. The beast slammed into the ground hard whilst Adelais used his wings to soften his own landing. Despite that, he landed right in the thick of a huge group of demons. The danger was all around and it was difficult to keep an eye on every enemy in the vicinity. His friends rushed to help him out there, stalling some of the demonic creatures and allowing him to get back to a safer zone. The angels in this battle had to have faith not only in themselves, but also in their teammates.
Chapter 18
Treacherous Schemes
Malakai and Aurora were now in the Pandemonium. They successfully got back to the main citadel without the guards questioning them and were ready to go on with further plans.
- “All right, Aurora, I need to go and speak to someone. Try not to disappear too far.”
- “Are we going to train some more? I want to practice telepathy again.” Aurora asked.
- “Yes, we’ll train as soon as I am done. You can practice telepathy yourself in a meantime. Tell me on the progress when I come back.” Malakai suggested.
Aurora agreed and Malakai left her to practice her special ability. He wanted to have a word with Malphas, as he seemed to be the most reliable of the demons. Malakai needed to know where he stood. From what he’d seen so far, Malphas would be a valuable ally when executing his plan. However, he needed to make sure of it before assuming that it was the case. He still knew very little of the demon and therefore could easily be deceived.
He remembered where Malphas’ tower was located and headed in that direction. It was situated inside of the Main Citadel, not far from Lucifer’s keep. The guards at the Main Citadel had to double take before letting Malakai through, as they were still not used to seeing him in the Pandemonium.
Once he made it past those gates, he began playing out his plan in his head, trying to find flaws in it, because the earlier he spotted them, the easier it would be to correct them. He was pondering so deeply on the matter that he didn’t realise how fast he reached Malphas’ tower. The tower in itself was relatively wide, having a square base, but it wasn’t very high. On the inside, it seemed relatively simplistic. There was one large room on the ground floor with a staircase leading up at the opposite end. There were several guards inside of the tower, which approached Malakai as soon as he entered it.
- “Is general Malphas expecting you?” one of the guards asked him straight out.
- “No, but I’d like to get an audience with him.” Malakai requested.
The guards instantly sent off a messenger that flew all the way to the top of the tower to warn Malphas of this. Malakai and the guards waited in silence, staring at each other indifferently. The messenger came back fairly quickly and said that Malphas was free to see the visitor.
- “General Malphas’ private room is at the very top floor.” The guard let Malakai know just as Malakai began walking towards the stairs.
- “Yeah, I think I’ll find my way, thank you.” Malakai rudely dismissed the advice and continued.
He patiently went up several flights of stairs, all the way to the top floor. He could fly up there, but he preferred to take his time using the stairs. There was a big metallic door right at the end of the stairs, which opened by itself the moment Malakai got close to it. Malakai then glanced inside and saw a big room, full of miniature models of different structures, as well as various sketches on rough pieces of parchment. Malphas was inside, working on one of the models.
- “Malakai, what brings you here? I’ve heard of the victory at the Den of Retribution. A job well done.”
- “I didn’t really stay there long enough.” Malakai admitted, “But I just wanted to ask you some questions.”
- “Ask away, but don’t expect me to necessarily state the truth. I don’t like to reveal my secrets to others, even to my allies.”
- “The demons in this sector, they aren’t entirely faithful to Lucifer, right?”
- “We obey his commands, but every single one of us would jump at the first realistic opportunity to dethrone him. That’s the way we are. Every single one of us wants power.” Malphas explained.
- “And he knows that?”
- “He does. However, if he was to destroy everyone who was plotting against him, he’d have no army. He only punishes those who finally make a choice to act against him and fail in doing so.”
- “And you… you would betray him too if you had the chance?”
- “Like I said, every demon would. The less intelligent ones do it impulsively. Those who are more cunning, however, wait for the right opportunity. I believe I can overcome Lucifer eventually. I am the best architect in the world, second only to the Creator Himself. My defences have never been breached.”
- “I didn’t know the demons actually admired the Creator.” Malakai found it surprising that Malphas acknowledged Creator’s superior power over his own.
- “I do not admire Him, but I admit that He is better. I can recognize true power when I see it, something many demons would not admit. Every other demon, even the generals, think they are the best at what they do, and for this reason they all will meet their end before they will get a chance to taste power. I am not as foolish as that.” Malphas expressed his opinion.
Though Malphas said he would not necessarily be stating the truth, so far everything he said seemed to make sense to Malakai. Malakai was very impressed with the Pandemonium’s chief defender. He seemed to be significantly more intelligent than other demons.
- “I take it you began your preparations to overthrow your master a long
time ago?” Malakai asked after a brief pause.
- “Since you’ve asked that, I sense that you have already started doing so.” Malphas evaded the question with an accurate prediction.
- “Maybe.” Malakai didn’t want to admit the truth.
- “It’s fine by me if you do. I am sure Alastor had already fantasized over a million different ways he can destroy Lucifer in battle. I am sure Eligos has been trying to assemble some sort of army a few times too. They never acted upon those impulses though, because they all know they’ve got one chance at this. If they fail, they’ll be pulverized into dust. Therefore, if you have a plan, it is your concern, not mine.” Malphas assured him.
- “I understand.” Malakai took everything in.
Whether Malphas would support him in his plan to overcome Lucifer or not was still unclear to Malakai. Most likely Malphas would stay with Lucifer, unless he knew exactly what Malakai had in mind and that his plan was outstanding and extremely promising. However, Malakai was sceptical about letting a demon know of his plan, especially one as intelligent as Malphas. The other demons might’ve been brutal, barbaric, and impulsive, but Malphas was a lot more dangerous than them, because he was extremely cunning. Malakai was very unsure if he’d be able to use Malphas. He knew that it’s a lot harder to use someone who was a worthy intellectual rival.
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