Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

'I will definitely slap that damned vampire across the head…' Two was made to sit with two archbishops, surrounded by two cleary high-ranking paladins and a crusader that was clearly built to rip heretics apart.

Not that she had any to reproach herself in terms of her faith or status as a priestess, just because she was not affiliated to a church did not mean that her priestly occupation was made null.

Still, she had just snuck an undead into Millipolo, and then into a church of Phanes, somehow, Loimos's disguise had managed to fool everyone, it was pretty convincing, but it was quite surprising that even the people of Phanes had not noticed anything off about him.

Two wasn't even made aware of what exactly Loimos wanted to do here, he was here to meet up with another undead for sure, but that was all she knew, One had not given precisions, always being rather stingy when it came to anything relating to her undead brethren.

So surely, he should not encounter any problem in Gruyere Plains, not to mention that this guy could not care less about getting blinded, he literally had no eyes.

"Pleasure to meet you! I am Mealt, archbishop of Nike" the man seated across from Joala was rather friendly, somehow attentive to the ramblings of the odd white-haired man, who turned out to be the raving prophet that one could hear words of from times to times, the one that used to be considered a great acquaintance for rulers to have.

He was not as much of a lunatic as one would expect, he was certainly a bit hyperactive and rather bizarre, but certainly not as bad as the rumours could make him out to be.

The archbishop turned to his paladin, telling her to introduce herself as well, much to the woman's displeasure.

Paladins and crusaders were rather similar to more mundane knights, stalwart and buff people wearing heavy armour and carrying similarly heavy weapons, that was exactly the case here, even if the paladins looked small compared to the crusader, they were still bulky, similarly to Four, but with more defined musculature, or so Imyre guessed.

"Urgh, I am Emina, arch-paladin of Nike" she put her helm back on.

"Heh, can you believe this? Whole paladin and too embarrassed to present herself in front of strangers, that's exactly why I take her everywhere I go!" Mealt laughed heartily, his paladin vibrating in place behind him, this man must not be afraid of many things to pull this sort of thing to a woman holding a warhammer and also turn his back to her.

"I suppose my own troops should also introduce themselves then" Joala came to the rescue and diverted attention.

The paladin went first, confirming that it was indeed a woman also, sounding rather young compared to the rest present here.

"Muspuella, arch-paladin of Phanes!" she exclaimed full of vigour, much at odds with her stoic disposition until now, Quideos leaned forward and whispered something in Joala's ear, earning a nod and leading the prophet to make an O-shape with his mouth.

"Ah, I knew it, didn't even need any visions to know that" he chuckled, pushing something that didn't exist at the same time.

"Crusader Thomas" the hulking beast of a man was concise, sounding threatening by the simple guise of having a deep voice, hands resting on the pommel of a greatsword.

"What is the name of that paladin accompanying you, Miss Imyre?" he then asked, slightly turning his head to look at the desert priestess.

"The paladin is called-"

____________

Loimos walked through the vast interior of the lively church, encountering absolutely no one after a little while, entering a long hallway leading into a wide plain covered in countless hills and slopes, treacherous holes were to be found everywhere, although a slight bit further, the chasms laying in wait behind a fence put in place by the good souls of the church to signal to any challenger when to steel their wariness.

As the undead stepped into the plains, he found himself observed by lookouts posted up on the wall, but also, not alone on the grassfield.

A man wearing a simple suit of armour, long blond hair that seemed to shine in the sun, wearing a simple mask shaped like a rough image of the sun, this man and Loimos instantly locked eye contact.

Without explanation, the undead stepped right up and stood in front of this man, who was quite the well built man, shorter than Loimos's current paladin suit but with broad shoulders, his arms crossed, this man looked at the skeleton with indifference.

Loimos knew, this man knew, both parties knew exactly what they needed to know about the other, despite being clearly the lesser force here, even had he not been disguising himself, the skeleton did have a clear advantage, this was but an equivalent of him projecting himself, this was the case for the outrageously overt vampire, any idiot would be able of connecting the dots.

"I was not expecting an undead to manage to get in" spoke the man, unmoved, almost amused.

"I was not expecting one that lives in death to dare get close to a gravelord"

"Oh… Ahahah, harsh words, I am a gravelord too, you know? What do you hope to achieve here? You, whatever you are inside of there… One swipe and you are gone for good" the sun mask, flicked the chestplate, ever so slightly caving it in.

"You are right, but if necessary, I will call upon Nosferatu's shade right here, a shade is unaffected by sunlight after all"

"Ah"

"You know how to make a good threat, undead" Your next journey awaits at empire

He stepped back from Loimos, definitely amused now.

"I would love to see if you are serious, but our location is not really appropriate, surrounded by the church of Phanes, and with Vwoldtnir nearby… Heh, what is your name, lesser undead?" he asked, turning halfway toward the way back into the church.

"Loimos"

"Loimos huh? Perhaps I shouldn't call you a lesser undead then… Mark my words, I will tear you, the gravelords and your filthy king down"

"Your words are grand, for someone afraid of a mere shade"

"Oh… You actually want to do it, don't you? Well then, seems like you really can do it, but no, not today" the man shook his head, choosing to ignore Loimos's obvious attempt at provocation, walking back into the church.

The undead watched him retreat further, the lookouts did not seem to be suspecting anything, Loimos stepped beyond the fence and slid into the first hole he came upon, retrieving the rusted amulet as he did so.

With the same lack of urgency he always carried in his voice, he informed Unacunerra of what had just transpired.

"I just ran into Sun-Walker"

"..."

"You what?"