The Creed's Emergence

Chapter Sixteen: His Return

Pathetic. How pathetic.

They'd never see the light of day again.

Sparks flew in the night and the echoing of blades clashing together broke the silence. One after another followed by the occasional crash and bang. Everything looked foggy, and there was fire raging as well. The scene seemed to be a burning village. Charred corpses littered the ground, some disintegrating into dust that flew in the air. The village was once quiet but thriving. But now, it was nothing but ruins. There were no signs of life, even in the territory of the village along with the nearby forests. Smoke filled the sky, covering the bright moon that shined above. The pillar of thick black smoke could be seen for miles, even though it blended in well with the night.

A battle raged in the night, one which only seemed to intensify further. But it suddenly went quiet after an explosion rang out. There was only silence among the crackling of the flames that burnt through the ruins of wooden houses that had collapsed.

"Give up, Decrepit! You're not a match for Menhir!" A voice shouted from the battlefield. It was a man with a wooden mask in dark-colored robes. His robes were tattered, and he was quite obviously bloody and beaten. A sword floated by his side, with glowing blue runes. Yet his voice was full of fear. He seemed to be the only one of his kind in this town. It was as if everyone else he was with was now gone. Potentially taken down by the enemy which roamed the premises of the once thriving village. But all around him came the echoing giggles of something. Or someone. Something that clearly had intentions of harming him for its own satisfaction.
From the fire, something dragged along the ground. Soon its figure was visible. It was a tall humanoid creature with nine glowing eyes. Half of its left horn was missing. The creature was bloody but unscathed. It was not its blood. It was the blood of the many enemies slaughtered that night. It dragged a massive sword on the ground, sending sparks into the air. The blade made an ear-piercing screeching sound as it dragged along the stones. It giggled as it set its sights on the now trembling man. He flinched as he saw the creature that came from the flames.

"Your tricks are known. Haha! You are predictable, little one." It said, soon beginning to laugh maniacally. But its voice was full of annoyance and anger. It had no patience anymore. It just wanted to finish off the fight once and for all.

"S-shut up! That's what you all say! All of you bastards!" The man screamed, taking a step back. He wasn't going to let his guard down. Even if he was the last one standing, it seemed, he wasn't going down without a fight. He was tired of being called predictable. It was the same lousy excuse everyone had when they fought his people.

"Little Astartes.~" The creature giggled again. Before the man knew it, the creature had lunged at him, swinging the sword. The sword itself was probably over 6 feet in length. It was unknown how anyone could wield a weapon of such caliber. The man then cowered in fear. His weapon, Menhir, suddenly began to glow brightly. It started to rapidly circle around him, slashing at anything in its path from many angles.

"I've seen beyond your cloak, Decrepit! You are the one they've spoken of! The juggernaut that never backs down!" The Astartes member shouted, staring up towards the creature as the sword circled him.

The creature jumped back, grunting as it nearly got slashed by Menhir. It grew far more annoyed than ever. How could someone use such cheap tricks? The man just contradicted himself. He claimed to not be predictable, but using the circling slash attack was precisely what everyone did with the weapon. They'd cower and let the weapon do the work. But it was time for the creature to use his own trick. A trick he had up his sleeve even before he used it against his own leader in his own madness. He stabbed the sword into the ground, which caused massive glowing red cracks to form in the ground. They were pulsing with an unholy light that seemed to be from the underworld itself. The flames began to grow and surround him. He began to speak in an unknown tongue. Blood slowly began to drip from his eyes and onto the ground beneath him. Soon, the cracked part of his skull reformed in a ghostly red hue, along with his missing horn. A tall thorny red crown appeared on his head, covered in rubies. His appearance had begun changing. His cloak had ghostly rubies and ghostly parts covering the tears and holes. He resembled a fierce evil king. Even the flames seemed to form a much longer cloak behind him.

"What the hell... Just what are you?!" The Astartes member soon scrambled back, his hands beginning to shake to the point where if he were to grab a weapon, he wouldn't be able to hold it for long. He felt terrified to his core. All he saw was red, a red moon, and the red sky, something was terribly wrong. In the distance, he heard an eerie church bell that echoed louder than the roaring flames around them both. He swore he saw ghosts all around him, staring right at him. They whispered things that he could not understand. The village was gone and replaced with what seemed like a mass graveyard. Thousands of graves stood silently.

That creature was a Decrepit, but he didn't seem like one for sure. Something was not right with his sudden change in appearance and his behavior, the same goes for the whole surroundings. The Astartes member watched as the blood dripping from the Decrepit's eyes formed glowing red markings all over the Decrepit's skull and body. He wasn't dealing with anyone normal. This was no normal cultist. Did Meirkien have something new in his arsenal of servants? Was he facing something that the Sect would have to find a way to defeat?

"What are you!? Answer me, dammit!" The Astartes member screamed, getting ready to take on the next attacks.

No answer came from the Decrepit as he then walked towards the man. His sword changed too. It had glowing red sigils, an eye opened where the handguard met the blade, and the hilt was bony. The sword was bloody, but the blood had a black sheen to it. The Decrepit giggled again, his gaze locking onto the man.

The Decrepit refused to answer. He would leave him clueless for all eternity. Just who was he, or rather, what was he? He was gone in a flash, only to appear behind the Astartes member. The man was impaled by the sword before he could take another breath. He screamed in agony, only to have the blade taken out of him before it plunged back into his flesh. The Decrepit stabbed him over and over as if the sword was small and light. But the blade could've weighed over fifty kilos. The world was fading away from the man's eyes. He was losing to a Decrepit, the thing that everyone said was easy to fight. He was lied to. Decrepit weren't easy to kill, and neither was this thing. Or, among the Decrepit, they had the elites. Decrepit so powerful not everyone could see them. It had to be an elite. He finally found one.
"Hordoe will be pleased... I've found the elite of all the elites!" The man started to laugh as he looked up at the Decrepit. The glow in his eyes had begun to fade as the life was drained from him.

"Elite... How stupid. What is a GOD to an elite?" The Decrepit suddenly answered.

"A... God?" The man was in disbelief. It couldn't be. Yet his life came to an end as the Decrepit swiftly beheaded him. He dropped the corpse onto the ground but said nothing else.

The battle was short. But the Decrepit wasn't done. He could sense more enemies approaching. Backup must have been called. Did he miss an enemy? But he wasn't bothered. It'd mean more bloodshed. More opportunities to flood the minds of the Sect with terror. He wasn't going to let them sleep. He'd give them nightmares for weeks. He saw the enemies coming. They were everywhere. They planned on launching an attack from all directions. As he looked around, he saw their bodies outlined in a glowing red color. It was part of his ability. Their foolish plans would be beaten. He'd make a fool of them all. He decided to pretend not to see anyone coming. They'd think that he wasn't paying attention. But in reality, he was just a snake waiting for prey to pass by. He waited for the perfect moment to strike.

"There it is! Get that Decrepit, don't let our first in command down! We'll get so many damn points from that one!" One of the Sect shouted as they climbed over the ruins of a house.

A group of three was the first to arrive. They charged toward the Decrepit who had his back to them. They chuckled, thinking he hadn't noticed them for sure. It'd all be easy for them. Or so they thought.

"This idiot will die to our blades!" One of them yelled, pulling out a sword.

"But I've watched you all come this way the whole time! Ahaha!" The Decrepit suddenly turned, swinging his sword at all three of the Sect. They all screamed, their eyes widening in shock. But their screams were cut short. All of them had been sliced in half. Their halves fell to the ground, silent. The Decrepit then turned as another group of three came at him. He stomped his foot into the ground and ruby spikes sprouted from it. One of the Sect members jumped out of the way while the other two were immediately impaled. He gasped at the sight of his teammates suddenly going lifeless as their bodies were torn apart. This was no ordinary magic that the Decrepit was using.

The Sect fired a beam from the palm of his hand. It hit the Decrepit, but it only seemed to irritate him. The Decrepit growled like a beast, slowly walking towards the man that had shot a measly beam at him. All the beam did was just leave a little scorch mark on his cloak.

"You dare use such a puny thing on me?" He hissed, his hand glowing with a red flame. He was about to go completely berserk. It wasn't long before he snapped.

But more Sect showed up. The Decrepit was surrounded. He slowly looked around at everyone, amused. This would be fun. So fun! He let go of his sword as his other hand was now in flames. He planted his foot into the ground, then the other. He took an odd stance, his gaze locked onto the Sect all around him. Thunder roared from above as the moon suddenly was obscured by black clouds, thicker than the smoke rising from the fire all around.

"What the hell are you, fiend!" Someone shouted from the crowd.

The same question he heard many times. What was he? He was not like the rest. But all of the comments only pleased him. He wanted everyone to fear him. The Sect decided to launch a full attack right here and now. They needed to stop this creature before he unleashed something else. However, they were too late.

The Decrepit unleashed a volley of black and red lightning from the sky as he charged toward some Sect, tearing into them with his bare hands. He had gone feral, now running on all fours as he tore each person apart. At one point he took out a smaller sword, which had red sigils, bony features, and an eye. He used the blade as a whip, which extended with a bony spine. The blade and whip wrapped around one of the Sect, tearing into her arm. The Decrepit pulled her in like a fish and he blasted her head off with a beam he shot out from his other hand. As her body fell lifeless, the Decrepit moved on. He repeated the process with three more Sect until some began to run away, screaming. The Decrepit watched but he wouldn't let them get far. He disappeared only to appear in front of a small group that tried to flee. Ruby spikes shot out from the ground, impaling all of them. Then he grabbed another Sect that tried to slip by. He stabbed them over and over until they were dead. It was a complete bloodbath. The Decrepit tore the fleeing Sect apart until no one remained.

He now stood in the middle of the massacre. He looked down, seeing a dying Sect member trying to escape. He snapped his finger and a spike shot up, finishing the Sect's attempt. The Decrepit then collapsed all of a sudden. All of the glowing and odd features disappeared. The flames remained, roaring all around him. He closed his eyes, soon laying down on the ground. He was covered in blood, head to toe. There were no more patches of milky white from his skull. It was all red. He would need a long bath after this, but for now, he was far too exhausted to do much.

But then something seemed to make him open his eyes. He thought he saw someone standing over him. No, there definitely was someone. It was a ghostly transparent figure. It wore some sort of Japanese robe with flower adornments on its head. He blinked a few times, soon noticing the two large pincer-like horns on its head. Their face was full of concern. It held out its hand as if wanting the Decrepit to take it.

"Another Decrepit?!" The Decrepit sprang up to grab the hand. But whatever it was, it was gone. It looked oddly feminine and pretty gentle. He groaned, rubbing his head. He was probably just hallucinating. Exhaustion was catching up to him and he had strained himself too much with his powers. He needed to get out of the area before more unwanted visitors showed up.

The Decrepit got up and picked up his weapons. He started walking off into the flames to conceal himself. The flames did nothing to him, but they did warm him up. He longed for warmth. But not the kind one would think. The warmth of family and friends, or a potential mate. He stumbled out of the area and into the woods. Everything was silent now. The forest smelled fresh, but with hints of smoke. Ash fell from the sky like snowflakes. Animals scampered away upon seeing the bloody creature. The Decrepit couldn't stop moving. If he was caught by the Sect, they could take him down. He was too exhausted to fight, although if he had to, he had one ace up his sleeve. It would not end well, but at least he could get away unscathed if it worked. He then heard something nearby. As he raised his sword, he saw a transparent figure crouched on a tree branch. It wore a hooded cloak but had the horns of an Obscure member and a Decrepit combined. The Decrepit immediately recognized who it was.

"My lady." He dropped the sword, now falling to one knee and bowing his head. He did not speak until he was to be addressed.

"How was the mission, Juggernaut?" The figure asked, soon jumping off the branch. She reached out, gently touching the Decrepit's forehead. Her touch was cold like that of a ghost.

"The mission has been completed, my lady. No survivors. A large group of Sect intercepted but were taken down swiftly. Maximum bloodshed has been achieved." The Decrepit responded in a different voice. It was much more serious and professional.

The figure then frowned. She stared up at the treetops for a moment before looking back down towards the Decrepit. Her hand moved towards his cheek. She kept it there, now gently moving his head so that his eyes met hers.

"... You showed them your secret, did you not?" She asked in a concerned tone. The Decrepit became visibly panicked for a moment. But his panic soon turned to guilt.

"I did, my lady. But I figured they would not believe that I am far stronger than they thought. They think we are all talk, and that our abilities are not as powerful. I had also called myself a god." The Decrepit recalled his actions. He had used only a fragment of his full power on that group of Sect, and called himself a 'god.' He wasn't sure why he did it, or why it slipped from his mouth so suddenly.

"You are not a god, Juggernaut. You are a Decrepit... Albeit, stronger than anyone else in your ranks. You are equal to your brethren. Despite this, I am proud. But just one thing." The figure then touched the Decrepit's gem on his face. She stared at it carefully, noticing how it was slightly cracked. Her hand lit up and she traced a claw over the crack. It soon sealed up and the gem was as good as new.

"Do not use that ability with your brethren around. They cannot know your true power." She warned, soon stepping away from the Decrepit. Without another word, she disappeared into the darkness. She left the Decrepit alone.