Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

Despite appearances, Irlitimiz was not that much more agile compared to the armour-clad zombie, not only did his suit of armour not impede his movements much at all, but his mastery over the both the frigid winds and the necrotic lightning were exceptional, his lengthy struggle against the creature that dwelled beneath the ice of the frozen ocean beyond land was one that even now, he did not consider over, even if advancements had been made in that regard, the water below the ice was incredibly deep, and the deeper one went, the more powerful the creatures that lived beneath became.

Not only that, but they also increased in numbers, those things seemed to not prey on one another at all, so they just accumulated and ended forming livings walls that prevented one from descending deeper- Although it was difficult for Alkayne to truly deal with this things considering both their nature, the terrain and the sheer size of the frozen sea… He had still made progress and become stronger as a result.

Controlling the freezing winds, he could perform sudden acceleration forward, not even truly stepping, more so sliding forth whilst swinging his halberd with devastating strength, and there was more than just the edge of his blade that the priestess needed to evade, the raging squalls surrounding him also had to be dodged, one caught within it would be struck with countless glaciating slashes, having their very marrow turned to frost.

Some of that frost had already begun turned Irlitimiz's black fur white, but channeling her bestial energy with greater ferocity was enough to get get rid of it, unfortunately, brute force alone was not enough for her to deal with Alkayne as he was constantly shielded by his innate ability.

She could not stay still either as that would only prompt him to call from lightning to strike down on her, or alternatively for him to shoot dark lightning directly from himself, and he would sometimes add it to his charges, making them even faster…

But the priestess could just keep her distance either, as when she first attempted that, he simply performed a battle art to increase the strength of his troops, swinging the banner wrapped around his halberd around.

Irlitimiz couldn't help but snarl, it was obvious that he was baiting her into close-quarters, forcing her to play by his rules- If Alkayne insisted on it, then she could only oblige!

With a howl, she directed the summoned wolves to spread out, they had only been marginally useful here and there, unfortunately, as things stood, they were not strong enough to reliably get through the frozen winds, and unfortunately, although ferocious beasts, their main strength was in numbers to overwhelm and take apart a prey, if they couldn't get close, there was basically nothing they could do apart from act as decoy and meatshields.

Channelling the powerful bestial energy that dwelled within her, the Divine Dancing Priestess ran straight at the undead, who in response, launched himself forward in a flash as well, necrotic lightning dancing atop his armour as he left a trail of frozen grass and soil in his wake, the two combatants, zooming past as they narrowly avoiding crashing into one another, sparks flying through the air, five claw marks left across Alkayne's chestplate, right atop the dark sun that decorated the center of the armour piece.

Likewise, the priestess had been covered in a layer of frost, but it proved ineffective, the undead was not too familiar with how the bestial energy functioned, but since it seemed to be something that was earned and cultivated through beast worship rather than an energy that could simply be harvested like most other, he could only assume that it was truly geared toward very specific utilisations, and here, it seemed like Irlitimiz had enhanced the cold-blocking capabilities of her fur and body, rendering the contact with his wind nearly ineffective as they were barely a few cuts left on her, the most prominent being on her left ear.

The priestess was not done however, without even bothering to turn around after the clash, she fully focused on manifesting a bestial spell, a pulse spreading through the area, causing the countless Zuoltrs she had manifested to grow different, their true form as creations from an ability revealing itself as flame-like shapes began to grow from their backs, waving and twisting as their power grew.

All aggressively barked toward the zombie before lunging for him, their bodies more resilient than before and able to endure more longer whilst caught in his shield of violent squalls, attempting to bite and claw at him- They just scrapped against steel and broke off teeth trying to do so, but they managed to be an hindrance, the bestial energy dwelling within them clouded Alkayne's own energy senses for a few moments, especially when he destroyed them as they could burst into clouds of pure energy.

Grabbing one's snout with his free hand, Alkayne crushed the Zuoltr and slammed it into another before it could dispel into energy, just before bursting with more powerful slashes of cold winds, bisecting most of the beasts and freezing the rest solid.

Just in time to see the massive Ahltaizth that manifested right in his face, he swiftly struck it with his halberd, enhanced with the full brunt of innate ability, sending necrotic lightning coursing through the creature, but it was but a bestial spell cast by Irlitimiz, not a creature of blood and flesh, or even a true creature at all, and necrosis, at leas the one he wielded, was far less efficient against such things, his freezing gales were otherwise more capable, but the sheer size of the spell was too great to be frozen in an instant, resulting in the zombie getting slammed by the whale-like spell.

The priestess couldn't help but look on with some admiration as she arched around the Ahltaizth to strike at the undead, because Alkayne refused to be taken off the ground, standing his ground and digging his heels into the ground whilst using his winds to push back, somehow managing to decimate the spell's momentum before lifting it off the ground and slamming it back down.

Incredible, for although the bestial spell did not replicate the full might of the beast, as Irlitimiz did not have that great of an affinity for the Ahltaizth, it did fully replicate its weight, although it could float in the air without problem, these creatures were exceptionally heavy.

Still, Irlitimiz did not let that distract her, rushing down the undead with bestial energy enhancing her claws, lowering herself just in time as Alkayne managed to thrust his halberd straight at her chest, the resulting blow she landed was many times weaker than it should have been as a result from having to evade at the same time, but claws marks that went through the previous ones that had been left were still placed atop the zombie's chestplate.

The priestess pressed one hand against her side, a blade of wind had gotten her pretty good, she could feel that part of her intestines had been frozen solid by the blow…

Still, she bared her fangs and claws, determined on winning this battle for the Emerald Realm.