Decadence

by Matthew Ashworth

  They reached the Northern part of the sector fairly soon and crossed the river Acheron. They slowed down their flight at that stage, so not to waste a lot of energy, and approached the Mount Sanctus. This mountain had a solitary path going straight uphill. It was called the Utopian Path, which, as the name suggested, eventually led all the way to the Utopia. However, somewhere halfway up that path there was a place that contained two huge gateways to the External World. Those were the ones Azrael and his team were heading towards.

  Chapter 7

  Agent of Destruction

  Garridan spent the last few hours on the road, heading towards the village where one of his former enemies was rumoured to reside lately. It was a warlord by the name of Helgott. Helgott was a brutal warlord, who rebelled against his own king. Helgott’s king was an ally of Garridan’s, and Garridan spent an entire year tracking Helgott and his troops, and engaging with them in numerous battles. Nevertheless, Helgott always managed to escape unharmed. Garridan knew of Helgott hiding out in this location, as he and his team were planning on infiltrating it for days now. However, as his sire had him executed, he didn’t get a chance to go on with the plan. Now that Garridan was a lot more powerful than he used to be, he decided to go after Helgott once again, before proceeding to more targets on his list.

  He was starting to get accustomed to the unearthly energy that was flowing in him. It made him feel like he had a big purpose to fulfil, and that felt really good. He knew there was a good reason as to why the supernatural entities chose him to purify the world from the filth infesting it.

  It was starting to dawn slowly, but for the most part was still dark. Now that Garridan reached the village, he took it easy, making sure no-one saw him. He knew this was the most recent village Helgott ran away to, but he didn’t know which house to strike. More importantly, it wasn’t in his intentions to harm innocent civilians. He just wanted Helgott’s head, and that was all.

  Little by little, Garridan got to the village streets, but there was hardly anyone around, a handful of people at most. He was starting to get impatient. He did not want to wait till daylight. His way was to strike at night, when he had the cover of darkness. Waiting for the day to pass would take too long, and so Garridan needed to act fast. He decided to stop hiding and came out onto the streets. The few villagers who were out and about at the time didn’t mind him. Since it was still pretty dark, they could not see his frightening burnt face. Garridan knew that walking through the streets and gazing about, however, was not going to get him to find his enemy. He decided to finally risk it by coming up to one of the women, and asked in his rough voice:

  - “Could you please tell me if you know of the location of Helgott?”

  The woman saw his face when she turned around and got terrified. She screamed out loud, alerting everyone nearby. Within seconds the village guards began approaching. Feeling enraged, Garridan picked the woman up and tossed her aside. Then, in a blink of an eye, he drew his sword out and waited for the guards to get closer.

  - “Leave now or we will be forced to kill you.” One of the three guards threatened when he was close enough to Garridan.

  - “You fools! I am already dead.” Garridan responded.

  - “Leave now!” the guard repeated.

  - “I just want to know where Helgott is. Tell me and I’ll leave you alone.” Garridan attempted to reason with them.

  - “You’ve given us no choice.” The guard stubbornly reacted and swung with his blade at Garridan.

  The other two guards initiated an attack as well. Garridan quickly took a step back, and then just as quickly lunged forward whilst slashing. That sudden swift move with the sword decapitated one of the guards. The other two saw what happened and hesitated for a brief moment. That was enough time for Garridan to sharply turn around and to graze their throats with a single slice, putting them both down instantly.

  When he was done with those three guards, there was a panic on the streets of the village already, as the civilians kept screaming, waking up the others. More guards got drawn to Garridan’s location. Garridan, however, knew that this chaos would draw Helgott out of his house as well, meaning he had to be watchful. He could not let Helgott get away again.

  Two of the guards came up to Garridan here, and, without asking questions, attempted to slash at him with their blades. Garridan performed two quick counters and put the two guards down within seconds, the first one by a throat slash, and the second one with a stab through the stomach. Once again, without taking a second glance at the ones he killed, he continued scanning the area for Helgott whilst ignoring all the other guards that were converging on him.

  It was as if he had an unusual gift. Just as he expected, he spotted Helgott appearing on the street at the distance. Helgott was a burly man who wore heavy armor and wielded a halberd. By the looks of it, he didn’t recognize Garridan and was just trying to understand what the shouting was all about. Garridan instantly moved off from his spot and began increasing his speed. Helgott eventually noticed the familiar armor that Garridan wore and realised he was an enemy. Garridan roared as he charged at full speed towards Helgott, who was still a fair distance away. Helgott decided not to engage in combat and thus began making a run for it. Garridan continued sprinting, now running at a speed no human could. Two of the guards got on his way, trying to stop him, but they were brutally knocked onto the ground by Garridan’s inhuman strength.

  He was closing the distance between himself and Helgott very fast, despite the crowds of people on the street. Rage was building inside of him at an alarming rate. When he felt confident enough, he applied all of the energy he had onto his legs and made a leap in Helgott’s direction. The distance he jumped was extraordinary. Helgott turned around at that moment, to check where his enemy was, and saw a leaping silhouette closing in on him from the air. He quickly reacted to produce a swing with his halberd, but, before he even started swinging, Garridan landed on him vehemently. During the impact Garridan pierced his sharp blade through Helgott’s chest and killed him instantly.

  As soon as he recovered from the leap and got back onto his feet, he saw lots of guards arriving at his location, surrounding him.

  - “End of the line for you.” The guard leader announced, “You have nowhere to go now.”

  Azrael and his troop finally arrived at the desired location and landed by the two gateways to the External World. The gateways were massive arcs, towering above the angels, and containing what looked like a swirling grey vortex inside of them. One of them led to the Northern hemisphere of the External World planet, and the other to the Southern hemisphere. Just as Adelais and the others got closer, Azrael stopped and turned to them.

  - “Now then, we haven’t been in the External World in a long time. Adelais, I sure hope you remember the key precautions to consider when in the External World.”

  - “Yes I do.” Adelais stated confidently, “Our bodies are no longer self-sustaining once we’re there, which means our rate of regeneration is slower, and also if we stay for long, we’ll need to eat, drink, and sleep.”

  - “Correct.” Azrael seemed pleased that Adelais remembered it, “This also means that normal wounds would hurt a lot more and could even kill you. That’s why we must be careful when confronting the enemy.”

  - “I understand.” Adelais nodded agreeably.

  - “There’ll probably be dark angels from other sectors already tracking down our target. We can unite with them, but it’s not necessary. What’s important is that the three of us stick together.” Azrael explained his strategy.

  Adelais and Ethel nodded, but didn’t say anything. On that note the three of them stepped to the gateway, leading to the Northern hemisphere, and flew right into it. The moment Adelais found himself inside the vortex, he recalled the bizarre sensation that he felt the last time he went through a gateway to the External World. It was rather unpleasant and made him feel dizzy. However, within seconds he found himself side by side with Ethel and Azr
ael, being ejected into the skies of the External World at an incredible speed. That boost always helped the angels to reach their target destination in the External World quicker. Unfortunately, the three of them weren’t entirely sure of where they were going. They had to keep flying until they sensed the demonic powers.

  - “I think I’ve got it.” Azrael suddenly said, “The perpetrator is in action as we speak.”

  - “Lead us to him then.” Ethel responded.

  Since Azrael was an angel for many centuries, he was better at sensing the demonic powers than Adelais and Ethel. Lazarus was an exception, however, as he was specialised in the sense ability, but he wasn’t with them at the time, so it was up to Azrael to detect the offender.

  Still continuing on with the fraction of the initial boost, they flew in the direction Azrael sensed demonic powers were used in. It took a while, but eventually they spotted a few more dark angels in the sky just ahead. All of the dark angels were converging on a small village, which was among picturesque hills and forests. Upon getting closer, Adelais noticed that there was a chaos on the streets of the village, and three of the buildings were ablaze.

  - “I sure hope the one responsible is still there.” He said out loud.

  - “He is.” Azrael confirmed, “I can already see him.”

  Adelais turned back to face the village that they were approaching and noticed a solitary knight battling several dark angels at the same time. He already slaughtered every single one of the village guards and was now single-handedly repelling the attack from dark angels. It was impossible for an ordinary human to be able to do that, no matter how trained in fighting he or she was. That confirmed once again that the assailant used demonic powers.

  Just as Azrael and his troop landed, one more of the dark angels battling the enemy had gotten killed. Four more were still fighting back. Gideon and Cael were among those, as well as Ilana, another member of Gideon’s troop. The last one was Jager, from Purgatory sector. Azrael and his team quickly joined the battle. The enemy noticed the arrival of reinforcements and quickly took a few steps back to analyse the battle strategy.

  - “Reveal your name and state your intention.” Azrael demanded, now automatically speaking in a language Garridan understood.

  - “I am Garridan, and I am here to purify this rotten world from the diseased individuals.” He answered Azrael’s question, much to everyone’s surprise.

  - “We request that you stop this immediately.”

  - “I am not going to stop. The divine forces gave me a job, and I am going to see that it’s done.” Garridan retorted.

  - “You are deluded.” Azrael stated with assurance, “It’s not the divine forces that gave you this job but the demonic.”

  - “I am not about to take your word for it.” Garridan snapped at him and then darted forward in order to produce a lethal slash in Azrael’s direction.

  Azrael sidestepped in good time to avoid getting struck in the face with a sword. Garridan quickly followed the swing towards Adelais, who evaded it successfully. Gideon and Jager dived at Garridan there and grabbed him in order to knock him down. Garridan, however, managed to overpower them and came out of their hold. As soon as he pushed them back, he slashed at Gideon, injuring him on his weapon wielding arm. Jager charged at Garridan there, but Garridan parried his attack with a quick reaction and produced a retaliatory slash to the angel’s throat, killing him. That was the third dark angel to fall by Garridan’s hands. Adelais knew charging straight for the enemy was a risky and very dangerous thing to do. One had to be well-protected before approaching Garridan.

  - “Ethel, cover me.” He quickly told her.

  Ethel understood exactly what he meant and cast a protective shield around Adelais as he charged at Garridan. Garridan saw Adelais, enveloped by a shield, propel through the air towards him. At the last possible moment Garridan rolled out of the way, causing Adelais to miss. Adelais, however, quickly manoeuvred in the air and was now flying back towards Garridan, who was already duelling with Cael. Adelais braced himself and eventually rammed into Garridan from behind, knocking him onto the ground. Azrael managed to approach Garridan at this stage and to kick him hard enough so that Garridan flew into the air, and eventually into the wall of a nearby building.

  All of the dark angels moved closer to Garridan as he instantaneously rose back from the ground. Cael and Ilana took this chance and dived at Garridan at the same time, hoping that he wouldn’t be able to repel both of them at once. Garridan, however, got encased in bright flames in an instant, and then momentarily disappeared, causing the two dark angels to miss.

  - “Where has he gone?” Cael recovered quickly and started gazing about.

  Every dark angel began scanning the area, but Garridan was gone. They watched the area for the entire two minutes, and he never appeared back into view.

  - “He escaped.” Azrael finally concluded.

  - “This isn’t acceptable.” Gideon said whilst clutching onto his injured arm.

  - “I know. We will need to search for him.” Azrael acknowledged what he said.

  The six of them diverted their attention at the burning buildings and wounded people who suffered from Garridan’s attack.

  - “Gideon, could you take care of the situation here? My troop is going to scout the area.” Azrael spoke finally.

  Gideon agreed, and two of his dark angels got to helping out the injured. Cael began absorbing the energy from the flames of burning buildings, and hence putting them out, whilst Gideon and Ilana tended to the people.

  Azrael and his troop in a meantime took into the air, to see whether Garridan was completely gone or merely transported himself to a nearby area, and were hoping to detect his powers once again. The morning had finally come, and the sun began to rise, casting light on everything. Adelais glanced at the sunlight and enjoyed it, after what seemed like an incredibly long time of dwelling in permanent gloom.

  Chapter 8

  On a Trail

  After contemplating for a long while, Aurora was prepared to handle the challenges. She thought the best way to get used to the new environment was to get involved, and the most ideal means to do so was a challenge. Enthusiastically she began making her way back to the main cave complex, hoping Malakai would be there. It was likely that he would be extremely preoccupied with the current problem, but she still wanted to help out.

  Upon reaching the cave entrance, she went inside hastily and began descending the tunnel. One of the guardians was exiting at that stage, so she asked him whether Malakai was inside. The guard confirmed that he was. Aurora was pleased and continued on her way. Very soon she heard Malakai’s voice. She made the next turn and saw him talking to Ragnar in the room just ahead. She then approached Malakai, who quickly paid attention to her.

  - “What is it, Aurora?” he asked, her unusual determined behaviour drawing him.

  - “I want to help out. I am ready.” She answered.

  - “Help out with what?” Malakai wasn’t sure what she was getting on.

  - “I want to help out with the current issue of creature attacks on Erebus and Helheim.”

  - “Aurora, stand down. The problem is not as bad as you might think. I am sure whatever happened will not be repeated, now that we’re aware of the situation.” He explained to her reassuringly.

  Aurora understood what he meant and took it on board. She wasn’t knowledgeable in the affairs of the Underworld and how it operated. She assumed Adelais’ and Azrael’s visit meant that the problem was severe, but now she began considering that perhaps it was a customary thing to do. With a nod she accepted Malakai’s word and moved away, beginning to make her way back.

  Before she began thinking of anything, she heard Malakai mentioning to Ragnar that he needed to go somewhere. He didn’t say where, and perhaps it was a private task from Lord Beelzebub, but the curiosity got the best of her. She wanted to know, and she was prepared to do anything to find out. It was better than waiting around anyway. Just
as she exited the room, she made a turn and hid in the next room. She heard Malakai exiting and starting to go up the tunnel to the surface. In order to find out where Malakai was going, she needed to follow him, and she needed to do it without him suspecting her presence. Being a neophyte to the ranks of dark angels, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to pull it off. Nevertheless, she was prepared to face the consequences in case of failure.

  Exiting into the tunnel, she saw Malakai almost by the way out of the place. She waited for him to disappear from view before rushing up the tunnel and up to the exit. As soon as she came out of the cave complex, Malakai was already in the air, heading out. Once again, she waited until he was relatively far away and then took off into the air after him. Since he was looking around from time to time, Aurora made sure she flew relatively low down, so not to be seen by him. She figured if Malakai was doing something suspicious, however, then he’d be a lot more watchful, making sure that nobody was following him. Despite that, she needed to know what he was up to.

  Eventually they made it to the sector’s Southern border, to the bank of the river Lethe. Malakai didn’t land at the dock, but continued flying. It meant he wasn’t going to take a boat. Keeping on Malakai’s trail, Aurora approached the bank and flew over it as well, making sure Malakai was well away from her, so that he would not see her. The sector that lay on the other side of the river Lethe was Pandemonium, home of Lucifer and majority of the Underworld’s demons.