Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

"Little piggy, come here!" the bag-headed man muttered something that Lizi could not understand, but somehow, she still felt a little bit offended, as though sensing that this guy was spouting something derogatory.

She did not rush to clash with him however, Lizi had heard multiples times about Griar experiences in this realm, and as such, she was well aware that the man wielding a double-edged axe was apparently far stronger than the rest, in fact, she could see the blood that had flowed out of the wound her younger brother had inflicted upon him.

The dry blood had stained part of the shirt and mask, apparently, her opponent had not judged it necessary to get a change of clothes since then, but that was to be expected from people who apparently drink stagnant water, being clean on the outside was probably the least of their worries.

From the very instant, his target got within striking distance, the man swung his axe through the air, the wind whistling as the edge sliced right through it, like some sort of berserker without concept of self-preservation, the bag-head just kept swinging again and again whilst Lizi continuously dodged and stepped back, grunting like an animal with each missed attack, his stamina seemed endless for a few moments.

Decisively, right as a swing came out appearing just a little bit weaker than those that preceded it, Lizi kicked a disembodied head lying on the ground right into the axeman's face, causing him to swing wildly without aiming at anything, the strike was high, so Lizi ducked down under it and with one swift motion, severed both of his arms, causing her opponent to stumble backward blood pouring out without stop.

'If Griar was able to stab into his neck using a weapon found here, then my sword would have no problem slashing right through him' the man was more durable than his fellows indeed, but not by an immense margin.

What seemed to truly be exceptional about this man was his strength and resilience, as although both his arms were chopped off, he was only momentarily dazed, swiftly surging forward again with the intention to attack, but of course, with his arms shortened by half, it was a pipe dream to hope that he would be able to do anything.

His balance was all wrong, leaving him wide open.

Lizi sidestepped a kick and lessened him of one foot, as he felt, she spun right around to his back, and with an upward slash, completely severed what was left of one arm, following with a deep slash to the back, damaging his spine.

The man tried to turn around despite it all, only to be met with a kick, Lizi's heel smashing into the middle of his face.

"Bad- Bad piggy… You need punishment!"

"I don't know what you're saying, but I feel like it's nasty as hell!" with a thrust, her blade was impaled right through back of his head, coming out through the mouth, effectively silencing that filthy speech of his before she ripped her sword back out, and beheaded him, sending the bag-covered head spinning through the air and then into the mud where the mask slipped off.

Revealing a face gnawed at by necrosis.

"You're one ugly motherfucker"

"This is a curious language you speak, young lady"

Lizi threw herself away, pointing her sword toward the source of the voice.

"Where in damnation did you come from? Hold on, more importantly, why do you speak the emerald tongue?" the swordswoman looked up at the tall woman before her, it was hard not to know who she was with the description Griar had provided.

The chief around these parts, and apparently a doctor as well, Isabela.

She was a towering figure, her impressive height only enhanced by the dark trench coat she wore with a capelet sewn atop the shoulders, as well as the galero hat, which made her shoulders look even wider than they already were.

Though, admittedly, from how Griar had spoken about her, Lizi had imagined a rather different image.

Isabela took off her hat for a moment and pressed it against her chest, leaning forward as a greeting.

"Young lady, if you are here, in our realm, then I assume that you have enough information to figure that out on your own, but let reply nonetheless… A certain man saw it fit to teach us that language, seemingly expecting the possibility that we might need it in the future, and here you are"

"Mmh…" Lizi kept her distances, the possibility that they might need it? It sounded like nothing but nonsense to the swordswoman! It sounded like that man could see the future rather, or was it that teaching the emerald tongue was considered a normal thing to do? With an undead in the realm, it made little doubt that those people were working with the dead.

So were they taught the language of the Emerald Realm so that they could recognise it? Did it mean that the undeads were actively trying to track them down?

'What a mess…' Lizi knew three languages, the one from Tamaris that she had learned from her parents, the emerald tongue, which she spoke normally, and the language of the people of the Peaceful Realm.

Due to being raised in the Emerald Realm at first, it was that language that she would use normally, and that was the case for many other of the refugees as well, but still, she couldn't help but feel foolish for using it.

"Say, young lady, your features look somewhat familiar- Are you perhaps related to a boy that came here some time ago?"

"Ahaha, you are… You are quite observant, miss…"

"...I am his big sister, and I must say, that little wanker did not mention that you were so pretty, I wonder, how do you have such nice, long hair in this place? Forgive me if I sound insulting, but this place does not seem very stacked in beauty products, I mean look at this guy's face"

Isabela chuckled.

"Are you perhaps trying to buy some time? There is no point in doing that, but if you really want to know, I just wash myself with stagnant water every once in a while"

"Eww… I mean- Wow! That's very impressive!"

"I know the name might sound a bit… Repugnant at first, but the wonders of stagnant waters are unlimited, the blessings it distributes are numerous and wonderful, you should just see Countess Ada then and now, a completely changed person… I fear that you are not very receptive to my words however"

"Me? Oh, I am very receptive, I receptiving very good right now, in fact, I am mesmerised by that adorable little accent of yours"

Isabela and Lizi stood in silence for a few more moments.

"I will have to kill you now, do not resist, it is for your own good"

The chief lunged forward.