MANDATES OF DIVINITY

EPISODE 11

EPISODE ELEVEN

When man begins to see

That decay is meant to be embraced

They will come for me

They will all be rejected.

-Goddess Hella

Order to rule.

            Just outside the walls of Saint Petros’ Basilica, a priest could be seen making his way across the street. It was past midnight and his face could barely be seen, he had a hood on and he walked like he staggered.

“Father…” Some passers-by genuflected as he passed, he didn’t even flinch. “Is he drunk?” The woman asked her partner in a whisper, she even covered her mouth to ensure discretion.

“Shhhh, we don’t want the wrath of the priests…” The other was even more careful with her words. “The giver hears all.” The two quickly branch off the road as if avoiding an omen.

            The priest moved on, somehow he escaped the gazes of all the guards manning the walls. It became evident he was trailing two other people. One was a priest, the other seemed like a commoner, they laughed and giggled as they discussed. One of the duo carefully observed the strange priest behind them, she couldn’t make out his face.

“Do you think he has been following us?” She finally asked after a moment of contemplation, she was starting to get worried.

“No I don’t think so…” The priest chuckled, he peeped at the figure that approached and shook his head. “You are just nervous, you do this every time.” He lazily replied. “I am sorry it has to be this way every time, if I knew I would never have been a priest.” He sighed.

            The two branched off the road and went down a deserted corner, a dimly lit house could be spotted not far from their position. The woman turned around and the figure behind them was nowhere to be found, like he just disappeared. Turning around to inform her partner, she was shocked to find the eerily familiar figure approaching them. This time his hood had been removed and the two he approached could make out his face.

“Father Stan, what is this?” The priest was now fully alerted, he could sense an ominous energy exuding from Father Stan, one that was not of light.

“Die!!!” That was all Stan said as he unveiled a sword and slashed out at the other priest, he slashed straight at the neck. It was a fatal assault.

“What has dragged you into this atmosphere of darkness?” Swiftly pulling a dagger, the priest blocked Father Stan’s fatal strike. “Get behind me Meghan!” He yelled and the woman quickly moved away from the duo.

“Rot and wither.” Father Stan turned his blade on himself and struck his own hand, spilling his blood in all direction. The other priest quickly raised a cross and a shield of light appeared, blocking off the blood.

            Meghan on the other hand had droppings all over his face and she reacted with a deafening scream, but then the worst was yet to begin. The blood begin to sizzle and it burnt into her face, she screamed and fell to the ground. The priest turned around and his stomach twisted at the sight he saw. Meghan’s face was starting to decay at a drastic rate, it extended down to all parts of her body and soon her sounds were muffled as maggots crawled out of her mouth.

“Devil!!!” The Priest was infuriated, his skin began to glow faintly. “I the servant of the creator will eradicate you from the surface of the earth.” He was confident of his abilities, after all he was already a lower Priest.

“Be thou cleansed!” He yelled and a ball of light appeared on his palm, he swiftly threw it towards Stan. The ball grew brighter and larger as it travelled, it even gave a faint humming sound.

            Stan chuckled and stretched out his palm, the ball froze just before making impact and rapidly began to shrink. It soon reduced to nothing and Stan remained unscathed, the sight left the mouth of the other Priest hanging.

“You are too pathetic...” Stan was clearly disgusted. “I expected more from a lackey of the church.” As soon as he said this, a red ball appeared above the Priest. It floated like a balloon and exploded before he could move, it spilled a red liquid everywhere. The Priest was soaked in it before he could move and he screamed from the immense pain that followed. His body fell to the ground with a thud.

“Careful master Hurd, if their faces are too damaged, the enchantment will fail.” The gentle voice of a girl came from the shadows, the figure came into view. It was the girl from Hellos cult.

“Just do what you have to Yoku, I can’t help it if they are just too weak.” The figure of Stan remained the same but his face had changed, it was Hurd, the leader of the council of five.

“So once Yoku conjures their souls, their bodies will be able to do our bidding.” Another figure stepped out from the shadow, the one with the gauntlet who conjured the portal earlier. He had an evil smile planted on his lips.

“That is the plan Bathan. I am surprised at why you keep asking.” Yoku replied, her voice ever innocent. “I call out to the depths…” Her eyes turned black, her voice was reduced to a whisper… “Hear me servants of Hella invade this vessels…” Two shadows floated out of the ground, they both looked similar to dead flame and they approached the bodies. “Make them yours and do Hella’s bidding!” The shadows faded into the bodies, the lifeless bodies twitched and turned.

            Finally Yoku regains her normal state, she is supported by Bathan as she falls backwards. Right before them, the figures of Meghan and the Priest rose to their feet. They didn’t look dead, Meghan’s face had been fixed and the duo looked perfectly fine. They even smiled.

“I can summon one more…” Yoku sounded fatigued, she released herself from Bathan’s grip. “Let us ambush a powerful priest this time.” She smiled weakly.

            Hurd smirked “So much for the greatest force ever. Breaking the church is far easier than I imagined, so far it is all going according plan.” He chuckled as he thought to himself. The church was unusually soft, turns out they were too full of themselves, resting on their laurels.

He thought back to two weeks…

            The five just made it past the main gate, they half expected the church to catch them as they did, but for some reasons today, the guards didn’t care. No checkpoints, nothing. They practically waltzed into the home of the Pope, all this due to some sort of ceremony.

“They are inducting a lot of high priests today.” A woman explained when they inquired. An induction ceremony? that was what their alibi. Their silly excuse.

            The five maximized the opportunity and matched straight into the grounds of the main chapel, cutting communication they found it easy to blend in. Hurds sights quickly fell on a particular Priest, the others referred to him as Father Stan. The quiet type, he barely interacted in the entire occasion, he was the perfect figure to be impersonated.

            Father Stan finished his duties a few minutes past midnight, he decided to make his way out of the chapel grounds. The five closely trailed behind, disguising as beggars. At one point the five were intercepted by a knight, he was clad in full armor. He demanded that they stopped and they prepared for the worst as he moved nearer.

“Oi folks…” The voice beneath the helmet suddenly turned soft. “Did you by any chance see if guards were patrolling by the left gate?” He chuckled nervously.

            The five glanced at each other awkwardly, one of the five had unveiled a dagger behind his back. Yoku held him, they couldn’t panic.

“Of course they are…” Hurd replied and smiled. “About six guards dear sir.”

“Oh, thank you.” The knight replied swiftly and ran back into the dark, not even looking back once. Yoku gave a sigh of relieve.

“We could have taken him, I could have taken him.” The figure with the dagger was infuriated, he turned towards Yoku and babbled.

“No Tom. We couldn’t, not without suffering heavy losses.” Hurd shook his head and walked away. “Let us just get this Father Stan and lay low for a while.”

“What?” The four couldn’t believe him, Yoku couldn’t keep quiet. “What do you mean master?”

“Well, I don’t know why he is dressed like a casual knight or even if he is a member of the church but I scanned his soul to check if he could be easily devoured.

“His powers are incredible, if he was a member of Hellos, he would at least rank higher than I do.” Hurd shook his head, whoever that was, they were terrifying. “He is not our match, not under this circumstances.” Hurd concluded and made his way off the street and signaled for the others to follow.

            The four were already gripped with fear, they knew what Master Hurd’s ‘soul scan’ meant. He had remained undefeated so far because he never got in a fight he couldn’t win, this was due to his soul scan. He could easily evaluate the level of anyone he met.

            The g**g quickly followed his lead and later that night, they ambushed Father Stan. The battle was very short, Stan was outnumbered and outmatched. Once he died, Hurd used a technique to consume the essence of his body and totally absorbed him. This way he gained the ability to transform into Stan, for as long as he wants until he consumes another victim.