Materiarth Genesis: Blue Moon

Chapter 18: Aedose

The trails of black smoke that had spread out from the blast converged and reformed into Armilius' cloaked body. Ignoring anyone else around him, he strode towards the girl who had previously humiliated him a few nights ago.

The girl was lying on the ground, coughing heavily as her lungs were expelling the dense smoke particles released by Armilius' sudden entry just now. Dazed by the blast's shockwave, she failed to notice the wispy figure in black that was towering over her. To make matters more convenient for Armilius, her arms had been restrained to her back by a pair of Mag-cuffs. Good, he appreciates less resistance from his prey.

"We meet again, impudent child," Armilius growled. Before the girl could even look up at him, he grabbed her by her jaw and easily lifted her off the ground.

"You," Tokine went from being slightly dazed to fully alarmed. Her eyes were now on the same level as the glowing grey slits on Armilius' mask.

"Where's the Blessing?" the cloaked man's voice became more echoing and demonic. He strengthened his grip on the girl's face.

"No idea what you're talking about," Tokine replied with clenched teeth. Her answer earned her the fury of Armilius as he spun around and threw her across the floor. She rolled over in front of the officer lying next to the gunned down Aedose.

XXX

"Damn it! Come on," Tokine desperately tried to split the magnetic handcuffs, but again she was struck by the high voltage shock emitted from the pair of devices. Her mind was begging for more power from Vandal, but the Spirit did not heed her call. She made another attempt to pull the cuffs again, and again it shocked her, this time the voltage was intense enough that she felt her heart slightly weakening. "Shit..." she panted.

The officer nearest to her went up on one knee and activated his communicator. "HQ! We have a code red at the Everstar Mall! I repeat we have-" his shouting changed into a dry and dying croak when a long needle suddenly pierced through his heart.

"No!" Tokine screamed as she saw the officer's body wither into a lifeless pale husk right before her eyes.

"Quite the entrance you made there, Armilius," said the bald man mockingly as he yanked out his arm needle from the dead officer, who then collapsed right in front of Tokine's face. She froze in shock at the sight of the two hollow eye sockets and lipless scream on the dead man's face.

"I would have really appreciated you dropping down sooner. You know, to spare me the inconvenience," as the bald man was saying this, the 30 bullet holes on his body began to rapidly close themselves up, and in just less than ten seconds, the wounds on him were completely healed up.

"I have no reason to humour your recklessness, vermin," Demon Mask, who was addressed by the bald guy as Armilius, said dismissively, stomping his foot down on the head of the police officer who was still prone on the floor, the heavy impact was enough to knock him out.

"Whatever," he said, as thick black liquid akin to started oozing out from every pore and orifice on his body, rapidly spreading all over him until he was completely coated in the substance, which then undulated and bubbled violently. "Not that some peashooters are enough to hurt me, Aedose, a Chosen Child of Elysion!" the bald man named Aedose gloated proudly as the coat of black sludge seeped back into his skin.

Tokine, Valeria and Officer Henry were left shocked and horrified when they saw the monstrosity the man has transformed into; a tall, demonic amalgamation of a person and an insect. His oval head, connected directly to his enlarged clavicles, has a pair of sharp glowing red eyes and a drooping, needle-like proboscis instead of a nose, with rows of sharp teeth in his thin grin. His muscled arthropod stature is covered in black and white striped carapace, while his grey thorax was unarmoured. Bristly hair grew all over the back of his legs and forearms. The pair of needles on his hands remained, now elongated to the length of a rapier.