Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

The corpse of the leader was rising up from the ground, putting the white mask back on his face, the actual head of the man was sinking in the blood, the torrent that had been threatening to flood everything flowed away, back down the stairs as the walls of rot vanished.

"You almost got yourself erased there" spoke the giant undead, Loimos had decided to put his skull in the man’s place, another trick taught by Faraday, while undeads naturally regrow their bodies, it wasn’t always so simple, taking over a corpse and using its resources to go back to peak condition was preferable.

Also, the white suit of soft armour the death hunters wore was rather good, it completely covered the body and came with a mask as well, Loimos was going to take advantage of what was left just lying there.

The hunter had also cleared himself of his life force on his own, making the attachment even easier than it would normally be, the undead swung the sword a bit, having rarely wielded a sword and only used it like a glorified knife, he was trying to see what was so special with this dark blade.

"This thing just has a rune changing its look inscribed on it, pretty good blade though, the craftsmanship isn’t shoddy" Slotriig was more knowledgeable on the subject of weapons, it turned out that it really was nothing more than a bluff, it was meant to make one believe that some sort of curse was imbued into the sword.

Sheathing the weapon, now that Loimos’s corrosive blood had gone by, nothing remained of the camp and its inhabitants, it looked like no one had ever gone there, the two skeletons retreated back down the staircase, their job here was done.

It was time to wait again.

And it didn’t take long for people to notice the disappearance of this group, the other hunters quickly put two and two together, there was no proof of what could have happened to them when they went to check, but it was rather obvious that they had been swiftly wiped out.

In the depth of this dungeon, were sounds of heavy armours clinking, it didn’t even have to have been silent, but clearly, dangers greater than the living armours and undeads roaming the halls had come out of hiding.

"What do you reckon we should do? Ilmael’s troop wasn’t a bunch of pushovers, he himself was in line to become a leader in zombie hunts" one of them shook her head, they were all dressed in much the same fashion as Ilmael had been, and thus, the same way Loimos currently was now.

To her, they were clearly out of their depths right now.

"We should back down for now and at least call for the Phanes church-" she spoke her mind, quickly cut off.

"Their priests and paladins won’t show their faces for a dungeon, unless we can prove that those undeads aren’t just summoned by the dungeon" everyone sighed loudly, the worshippers of Phanes, a god of life, were just as, if not more, belligerent when it came to undead matters.

However, they weren’t nearly as quick on the uptake, despite having access to holy energy, holy energy coming from the following of Phanes carried some aspect of life as well, making them exceptionally effective.

Alas, they mostly cared about cleaning up the mess, rather than working to prevent it.

"Sure, the skeleton encased in armour may be dungeon spawns, but what about the rot down there? I am telling you, that makes no sense for monsters to diverge so strongly from the theme to be down there, there has to be an outsider in there" another one was certain of his claim.

"Speaking of the rot, I did some checks up on this, and it somewhat sounds like an undead that was spotted in Throdqdmond, remember the massacres? The skeleton launched itself down into the Elephant Cave System, considering the newly discovered part of the dungeon, it is very likely that it goes much deeper…"

"You think that undead could have gained access to the dungeon from the caverns? A dungeon should only have one entrance, but if the rot is truly associated with that filth, then it is hard for me to find fault in that reasoning, it lines up perfectly" silence befell the room as the hunters thought for a moment, their attention brought elsewhere upon wearing two simultaneous slaps.

"I knew it, rot you say? It does line up perfectly!" everyone stayed silent, recognising the newcomer, and intruder.

"Miss Rummy? I thought you had gone with Mister Abraham and Mister Échalas to investigate some Nosferatu vampires…" the woman from before spoke up first, since no one else felt like engaging the blonde girl in conversation.

"That was a false lead, just a thrall, dealt with within a minute!" Rummy began circling around the masked hunters, her glasses clicked on.

"In any case, unlike the others, I never gave up on tracking down that skeleton, I got in touch with the Bethome Meleme and forced her hand a bit to help research on the Elephant Cave System and this dungeon" everyone perked their ears up, Meleme was not only a highly competent historian, she was also an avid supporter of their cause.

It was rather obvious since her usually pristine, and unbiased writings always took on a different form when undeads were involved.

"What did you find out?" asked another one.

"Ahaha, Aah, you guys should all pull out" she advised them, her playful tone dying down for a moment.

"W-"

"Don’t ask, Meleme is writing on it at the moment, my lips are tied until it is released, but know this: This isn’t something we death hunters can take on without seriously going all in, give up and don’t bother spending any of your resources on this place, go back to your usual spots and do something more productive, this dungeon, and that skeleton I was after are both out our reach" she took a seat on a nearby barrel.

Not one of them felt like giving up without knowing why, but despite her antics, Rummy was reliable enough, directly linked to the two best vampire hunters of the present, she was said to be next in line as their leader after Échalas, although that reality was a frightening one.

"Where is Ilmael anyways?"

"Most likely defeated in action…"

"Ah shit, he was only mildly afraid of me" Rummy grimaced, and everyone just acted as though they didn’t hear anything, scattering away under the pretence that they needed to prepare for their departure.