Azazel

Chapter 4

Detective Jae-Hyun Kim was standing in front of a dimly lighted hallway, the cool stone floor quietly resonating with his footsteps. Wearing the mysterious black robes of the secret society, he went stealthily, merging into the group of people who strolled beside him in silence. He felt a rising sensation of dread as he got closer to the center of the ceremony, but he steeled himself because so much more was at stake than just Ethan's life. Should the society be successful in finishing their rite, the planet would be permanently altered.

Maria's scarcely heard voice buzzed in his ears. "Are you inside, correct? Jae, I don't like this. You are entering blindly.

Jae-Hyun kept his voice low and adjusted his earphone. "I'm stuck with no option. They will soon begin. I sense it.

Ahead of him, the tunnel led to a large room. Numerous members of the organization gathered in a broad circle, clad in identical black robes with ornate masks covering their faces. There was an altar in the middle of the space, and Ethan lay there, barely aware and shackled. Around him, candles flickered, creating odd shadows that seemed to move and change on their own. The scent of incense and the soft murmur of ancient tongue chanting pervaded the atmosphere.

The Mother of Pus's cult assembled. The phosphorescent fungi's unearthly glow created grotesque shadows on the gathered humans, and the walls were slippery with wetness. The cultists started their horrible invocation while wearing ragged robes that looked like rotting flesh.

A hideous statue of a twisted woman with a deformed body and several pustulent growths covering her form stood in the center of the chamber. She was their repulsive divinity, the Mother of Pus, a corrupt and decaying entity.

The ceremony was started by the high priest, a thin man whose eyes gave off an air of insanity. He held up a chalice that was filled with a foul, chunky liquid that was the holy offering of the cult, a horrible concoction of decomposing materials and dung. He muttered, "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Mother of Pus wgah'nagl fhtagn," the syllables gurgling in his throat like the last breaths of a drowning man.

His chant was repeated by the cult members, their voices a symphony of insanity. They twisted in a mocking display of exhilaration as they started to thrash and smear the dirt from the chamber floor all over themselves. Pouring the filthy mixture over the statue, the high priest dipped the chalice. As the liquid slid down the stone form, it appeared to bubble and writhe, almost if it was alive.

Two cultists walked up to the statue, their faces covered in excrement. They started to smear filth on their nude flesh as they ground their bodies against the stone shape in an abhorrent mimic of a sexual act. Their groans reverberated around the room, creating an unsettling melody of wickedness.

With his eyes rolling back in his head, the high priest started to yell the last few words of the invocation. With him rose the voices of the other cultists, rising in a frenzied crescendo. Thick, yellowish pus started to seep out of the statue and onto the writhing cultists, who screamed with delight as the repulsive material covered their bodies.

A thick, suffocating miasma enveloped the chamber, the stink of filth and decay overpowering. The cultists fell to the ground, their bodies drenched in a viscous mixture of pus and filth, their bodies twitching with the foul presence of their god.

Something moved inside the statue in the shadows, a throbbing, writhing creature that pressed against the stone in an attempt to break free. With her filthy presence filling the chamber and her offspring writhing in the filth at her feet, the Mother of Pus had answered their cry.

Jae-Hyun's heart was racing. He was aware that this was his one chance to halt it. His palm lingered on the hidden weapon by his side, but the lead figure at the altar lifted his arms before he could do anything.