Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

Fingers flew through the air, strangely translucent blood going alongside them, Lizi hastily ducked underneath an attack, directly the tip of her blade to stab right through the chief's liver, impaling it whilst moving forward before ripping out blade back out, letting herself be carried by the momentum, and rolling backward upon the ground to avoid a counterattack.

The swordswoman was breathing heavily, their confrontation had been going on for a while now, this was typically a terrible type of enemy for the user of a sword, cutting through Isabela's body required much effort, which was tiring, and yet, it was highly unrewarding as the tall woman would just regenerate from all damage done to her in a matter of seconds, so the fight just kept on going and going, the end appearing like a finish line that was unreachable.

Isabela was not exactly slow either, and although clearly not a trained fighter, she was beginning to pick up on Lizi's tactics, forcing the swordswoman to make of increasingly risky manoeuvres to not be caught, and with her growing more tired the longer this went on, it did not bode too well.

'Is there no limit to her regeneration?' Lizi had not noticed any change in the speed at which her opponent recovered, Isabela was looking a little spent, but not nearly as much as Lizi, clearly, the so-called 'divine body' the stagnant water had given her also included ungodly stamina, but that was to be expected, after all, it wasn't just a product of undead interference, it was a product of Loimos himself! The Life Scourge in person! The vile butcher of livings- The blade of execution of the Undead Empire!

Indeed, in the eyes of people like themselves, Loimos would look exactly like a god, because even before people with incredible strength, he was simply untouchable.

If the stagnant water really was one of his creations, it was no wonder that it could grant such incredible powers to those who entered into contact with it.

'It doesn't make sense though… Why would he allow livings to make use of it? And Why would he have these people 'prove' themselves by conquering this realm for him? If he can come in here, why not do it himself?' Lizi found it nonsensical, Loimos was pure evil, there was no way he had gotten a soft spot for them, or for that Lady Fe, so what was the point of all of this? Was this a normal ritual of the Undead Empire?'

With another swing of her blade, Lizi was able to sever one of Isabela's legs, this was not the first time this had occurred, in fact, the chief was lacking most of the parts of her clothes on the limbs due to losing and regrowing them a handful of times each.

But even losing a leg did not seem to affect the enemy, it was as though she felt no pain whatsoever, no matter what Lizi did, no matter which organ she punctured, no matter how many strikes she landed in succession, Isabela would just stand back up again.

Even strikes to the brain seemed only capable of dazing her for a few moments.

Lizi did not lose her composure however, things seemed bad, and honestly, they were, but a little while ago, she had begun hearing distant explosions, sign that Louizon was alright and that some unfortunate people were getting blasted into a realm of nothing.

'Hopefully, Griar will join up with her…' as long as her younger siblings were alright, Lizi would not falter, and furthermore, although things seemed grim for her, she was actually feeling ecstatic.

The Peaceful Realm was true to its name, although the giant wildlife might seem intimidating, it was only made up of animals, no beasts or monsters, solely oversized animals that preferred to keep to themselves most of the time, there was little danger, Arzt had picked this realm specifically for this reason.

The people of the realm were pacifists, there was no real challenge, Lizi could only learn swordsmanship from training, but it wasn't like Antieeld or any of the fighting spirits she summoned would actually try to harm Lizi, it was all sparring.

Despite this, the eldest sibling's swordsmanship and battle acuity had reached impressive heights, and right now, for the first time ever, she was actually experiencing a real fight, and as a result, she was gaining tremendous insight in how to better wield a sword.

In how to fight.

What was the point of wielding a blade? What was the essence of combat?

Some would say that it was to defeat or kill, but Lizi found such notions to be incredibly small-minded, the people who believed that a sword could only be used for such a purpose were no more than primitives who fancied themselves as great thinkers.

No, it was deeper than that, more abstract, something that could not be truly understood by the confines of a human's mind.

Lizi believed that she wielded a sword for the sole reason that this was what she was meant to do, she was born, and from that moment onward, it was already decided that it was the sword that she would be talented with, and as such, that it was what she should focus upon, not reject her nature in favour of something else, but embrace it and become the swordswoman that mere luck and a good combination of elements had decided she could become.

There was no true reason why she wielded a sword, she simply did, and as such, it was by wielding a sword that she helped her siblings, and it was by such that Isabela was going to be defeated by a sword.

For a brief instant, Lizi's mind felt abundantly clear, she stepped forward fearlessly as the chief lunged at her, a fist that could crush her skull in a single blow heading for her.

With two swings, Lizi severed both of Isabela's arms, with a third, she severed both legs, and with a fourth, she sent the chief's head rolling to the ground.

"Lizi!"

"Oh, are you guys alright?" before Isabela's head could even stop rolling, Louizon and Griar arrived.

"Yes, what about you?"

"A little tired, I guess, but I think I just advanced my swordsmanship to the next level"

"Huh… Take a step back everyone!" called out Griar, noticing tendrils of stagnant water swiftly reach out of the chief's body, bringing her limbs and heads back together seamlessly.

"By the gods, is she actually immortal?" Lizi prepared to fight again, but an explosion struck Isabela, sending her flying straight through a nearby farm.

"Ah, I almost forgot about that… Do you think you can destroy her with your blast magic?"

"Hard to tell, although that woman was flung away, the efficiency of my spell was greatly reduced when it entered into contact with her… I might need to burn through some mana-"

"Then let's just leave, we can't waste our resources, I am pretty sure she is unkillable anyways, so just focus on sending her flying as far as possible"

Louizon nodded and weaved another spell, a loud boom spreading far and wide following its casting…