CHAPTER XV: DISRUPTION

The body crashed into the wall and fell down, assuming a pose implying that most of its bones were broken. The other Hell Knight looked at me with terror – he definitely did not want to be thrown across the room like his unfortunate brother had just been, and made an attempt to say something. I grinned once again, baring all of my exquisitely sharp fangs, and asked him, in a voice as calm as possible, about the reasons there were problems and delays with the Invasion. He murmured something about human resistance forces, the marine that had caused so much trouble and the fact that the coordination between our forces had been very poor lately. I told him, or more precisely, shouted at him to bring my orders to the legion commanders, tell them that my patience is running out and there would be very severe punishments. The Hell Knight bowed, trembling with fear and threw a last glimpse at the crushed body of his brother that lay on the other side of the room. He went out as quickly as possible and I called the imps to clean up the mess. The Invasion was not going well. And I was the one who had to take care of everything.

Our armies had difficulties throughout the Earth's largest continents – the humans had already prepared for our coming and resisted heavily. I ordered my troops to bring more Cyberdemons and Arachnotrons from Hell, now that you were not there anymore. I also had to coordinate the activities of our new and unexpected allies...

Strange as it was, there was a group of humans that allied with us. Yes, in an old castle hidden in a distant land was a group of some strange and thoroughly evil humans. They called themselves "Nazis" or "SS". They wanted to join our ranks and we accepted – we even gave them a Cyberdemon and some Pinkies so that they could defend their hideout when the forces of humanity discovered their betrayal. They kept some unknown relics in their bunkers. I couldn't see them yet but they promised that they will show me what they have when Hell finally conquers the planet. Until then, the relics would be guarded by a Cyberdemon...

My observation orb showed me that you were battling in some industrial facilities that we had taken over. Casualties were heavy and I frowned as my worries awakened once again – you had gained experience and were even more efficient in battling our forces. I dearly wanted to take care of you personally, but Baphomet's orders were strict and undeniable – I was to safeguard the city and the portal. And now an additional new order came in – there was a task for me somewhere else on the planet.

Baphomet's apparition was ethereal but it was still obvious that he was furious. With a wicked grin, he ordered me to build an Inmost Dens complex within the city, to return to Hell for a while and bring some Void Spheres to the Earth. I shuddered – I knew very well what those spheres were and what they could do, but I preferred not to think about them now... I ordered a contingent of Hell Knights and Imps to construct the Inmost Dens according to the plans I had designed. Then I opened a Gate to a small island lost somewhere in the molten seas of Hell. I enjoyed the feeling of being in Hell once more and inhaled the hot air with pleasure. Then I walked towards the entrance of a great temple, built of black marble and ornamented with crystal skulls.

As I stepped inside, I felt that the air became very cold and humid. Braziers lined the hall I walked in. I stepped upon a thick dark red carpet ornamented with black runes of power. As I reached a pair of heavy golden doors, they opened, revealing a large underground chamber, lit by hundreds of chandeliers. In that hall's center awaited another of my kind – a Gatekeeper. He bowed and told me that he had been informed of my arrival and the spheres were prepared. I asked him whether he knew why Void Spheres would be necessary and he replied that it was a part of Baphomet's greater plan for the Earth and its conquest. I sighed – great things were to happen soon. He told me that the time had come for me to take what I came for. You are so curious, marine... For now, I will not tell you what the Void Spheres did. I will only tell you that humanity is very lucky because we could not use any of these artifacts.

As we went down into the crypt, I saw many tomes that I had looked for in the libraries of the Monster Condo. The other Gatekeeper told me that some special volumes were kept here in this forgotten temple, because Baphomet had ordered so. That was something I could not understand, but reminded myself that the Demonlord's plans and schemes were always hard to clearly see by us, his lesser servants. It was then that my brother whispered to me that there were some really special grimoires that even Baphomet himself rarely dared to read. They were locked away in a place that I had already been to... A sudden flashback struck me as I remembered my first years in Hell – I remembered my journeys and a peculiar place that I had encountered – the Iron Tower. I once again vowed that I will visit it again some day. I had a really bad feeling what I would discover there.

A large underground hall appeared before us. There, in a pool of greenish liquid floated many sparkling spheres of hardly contained energy. I felt cold at the sight of the Void Spheres. My brother told me that I had to keep them very well and not touch them unless ordered by Baphomet himself. I agreed that such power was not to be toyed with and picked up as many spheres as I was ordered to. I felt relief as we climbed up into the main hall and looked at each other. The other Gatekeeper told me that I had been doing very well and, undoubtedly, a great reward would await me once the Invasion was over. I agreed and wished that he would one day be relieved of his duty of watching over this forgotten temple. I walked out and felt much better. The Gate awaited me... and the Earth beyond it.

Once I was back, I was ordered to hide the Spheres in a place, which I considered safe enough. I immediately thought of the Temple of Darkness. Happy at the opportunity to visit it again, I quickly opened a Gate to the place where I remembered it to be. Buried under the surface, it could not be seen, but I had the power to enter it directly. I appeared in one of its dark abandoned halls. I felt very strange as I revisited this place. I walked down the quiet tunnels under the cloak of darkness. I reached one of the ritual chambers that could be locked magically. I hid the spheres there and sealed the door with its ancient lock. To improve security I also set a few curses and magical traps that would cause serious trouble to any who would attempt to enter that chamber. My work done, I headed back and passed through my former throne room and other halls that reminded me of the past days – days that were gone long ago.

With the spheres safely hidden, I returned to my command post, only to receive some really bad news. The imp who brought them was rewarded with a sudden and unexpected impact with the room's wall. You, the marine who wreaked havoc better than any demon, had infiltrated an important facility that produced our healing substance – toxic slime mixed with blood. And you had infiltrated after moving through several other facilities, killing all demonic troops that awaited you there – two temples, overrun ordnance depots, and a small fortress had fallen to your personal war against us. And you were battling your way further, moving closer to the headquarters of a Spider Mastermind.

Another thing was that a small band of elite marines were active in one of the city streets, inflicting damage on our patrols. Luckily, I was given the honor to deal with them myself because all other troops were busy building fortifications around the city or fending off attacking troops from the regular army. Many city buildings were burning, streets were covered with debris and smoke erupted from the vents. I walked down among some ruined warehouses and small factories. I had put on a human image so that the marines would not be able to quickly retaliate. Indeed, they were very puzzled at the sight of a figure in a black robe coming towards them. Their hesitation was short... but fatal. When I raised my hands in a gesture of power, they realized that something was wrong. Too late. The earth beneath their feet exploded with terrible force and the marines were consumed by fire. As the smoking remains were scattered all over the place, I took a look around. Everything seemed fine now, and I returned to my control room.

There I saw that the Inmost Dens were complete and demons were already moving in that exceptionally useful multi–functional facility that served as a breeding ground, water supply, and training arena. I also learned that for that time, there were no human groups around the city and it finally was satisfyingly secured. The fortifications that I requested would be ready soon, and the whole place would turn into a real bastion of infernal power on Earth. Then came the nervous beeping of the communicational systems that alarmed me about your progress. And progress indeed there was.

You had almost reached the Spider Mastermind's lair and were now inside one of the transformed facilities – a fuel factory that had been altered into a place where bodies were crushed so that the blood could be extracted and used to nourish our troops. I was seriously convinced that you would defeat all demons in that facility too and would move on to the headquarters, where my hopes lay with the Mastermind, who was experienced in combat and could possibly do what the other Spider had failed to do – destroy you and put an end to the crisis.