Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

Abbanh could not allow even a single stone to be left unturned, the loyalty Lady Syklon inspired in her followers was commendable, Loimos could certainly see the natural charisma and presence required to bend sapient, living humans to one's will without the use of any outside means, he himself could only do so by catching hold of their life with his own two hands, and even then, it wasn't certain to work with all of them.

The little lady was simply a natural born leader, few other individuals could boast being able to have such powerful men following after them, it required strength, but also so much more, to inspire trust and confidence, true loyalty without even purposefully fishing for such results.

It was impressive, it really was, Loimos being unbiased even to the good points of the living he encountered could only acknowledge her authority, he could also see how it could be exploited however, Abbanh, Ohrn, Guorzo, they simply went further and beyond into everything they did for the beloved lady.

The spearman had to find and defeat Loimos in her stead, for he had damaged her business, her goods, the undead had committed what her elites considered a cardinal sin, fueled by both the desire to honour her order and his own willingness to avenge her loss, Abbanh was driven by the two most powerful wants he had ever experienced.

He was willing to put himself into harm's way, all to not miss any corner the scorned skeleton might be holed up against, there was no need for Loimos to put any efforts into luring him into the perfect place.

The young elite could recognise that an area was prone to ambushes, and instead of avoiding it, he would charge in to push his target to show itself, the instant Loimos would appear before him, a fight the undead could not win with one hundred percent certainty would break out, and that wasn't taking the rest of the forces following Abbanh.

Facing his enemies head-on was not something Loimos tended to do, standing atop of a high cliff, he overlooked the large group of experienced warriors walking into a circular opening in the side of a small mountain, the disposition could allow one to have the high ground over them, on multiple levels at that.

The spear wielder knew this, and he hoped Loimos would bite, just like he had bitten with Guorzo, the situation was much more favourable too, Loimos could have easily placed many of archer arms around, he could have placed rot bombs to collapse the place in and trap them in.

Those circumstances had been thought of by both Loimos and Abbanh.

Much like the undead knew how to use the loyalty held toward Lady Syklon, he was well aware of how to use the psyche and instincts of other denizens as well.

The livings were greeted by a growing rumbling, shrill cries carried far by the air, growing in intensity and numbers, they grew more and more hateful by the seconds.

"Is this…?" Abbanh and his men did not take long to realise what was going on.

Loimos had been using the Derelictus-Mens as footsoldiers, of course it was accounted in Abbanh's theories on what could be thrown at them, but he hadn't gone further than the mere, little monkeys.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The small monsters were less intelligent than humans and other civilised species, that was a fact, they appeared weak to those unaware of their society, but that was because the small groups one could encounter on the outside and simple hunters and gatherers, hunting small preys and moving with few numbers to hide from bigger predators.

Incapable of distinguishing between powerful powerful people and regular folks, they had the reputation of rushing towards their death, but it was simply due to a misunderstanding, they could target so many humans and intelligent races travelling the planes with their numbers without problem, they grew convinced that all were preys and ended up dead once their luck ran out.

Loimos had observed them for a long while, his encounter with one of their queens taught him about the strength they could possess, were they led by a queen and her regents…

'They are fiercely loyal to the collective, just as much as you are to your lady'

One simply needed to be able to remotely kill and control the actions of a great deal of the lesser members of the Derelictus-Mens tribes, so many deaths, and using a few of them to point at a cause, Loimos could do that.

Painting the walls of their safe caverns with the blood of their brethren, tricking them, Loimos unleashed five queens and their tribes upon Abbanh and his troops.

Each queen had dozens of consorts, or so Loimos referred to them as, much larger, and stronger males, and below the consorts, were all of the others, hundreds of them, without a shed of fear or apprehension.

The shouts of their queens empowered the subjects as a whole, through the use of a natural battle art, the consorts shouted as well, applying another layer of this art upon those below them and to themselves.

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Like a wave magma, the initial clash swallowed many of the guards, unprepared to have to fight dozens of frenzied monsters at the same time, bone daggers were stabbed into the legs, pushed to the ground and killed without even having the occasion to wiping out their well-honed battle arts.

The second clash did not go much better, the consorts jumped above the others, protecting the weaker monsters from the guards, the third clash, the queens waved the finely crafted wands they had received from unknown sources, unleashing simple, yet devastating spells.

On top of being the physically strongest, the queens were somehow all mages, knowledgeable on how to circulate mana and how to create spells, simple shards and bullets of basic mana, but also more complicated spells.

A deluge of bestial fury and calculated magic rained down on the unprepared guards, the so-called elites allowed to guard the halls of the manor were crushed by the monkey's they looked down upon.

Abbanh could not believe his eyes, his senses as a whole, was all of this really happening? Were they really being slaughtered by lesser beings? Beast with no knowledge of martial arts beyond their instincts? Monsters which only battle art was one they used without realising, something they had not learned but been born with? Could proud warriors like them really fall against such things?

Abbanh was confident in his strength, fighting against overwhelming numbers never bothered him, facing a few consorts was one thing, but even a single queen inspired dread in his heart.

The queens were overwhelmingly powerful naturally, their bodies were simply superior, and they were even permitted to learn magic? How was that possibly fair?

"Don't grow arrogant, monsters that lived but a few steps away could defeat you with one hand behind their back if you are not careful, monsters you know use numbers, or are merely glorified animals, the true monsters have an inborn advantage compared to us, if they wear the title of king or queen, I expect a decade before you and your poor talent can comfortably challenge one without getting injured" he remembered the words of his lady, gripping his spear with resolve.

He could not disappoint her.