Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead-Chapter 1242: The Closure

Capítulo 1242: The Closure

On a certain morning, Ronarkatast and Solast were preparing to leave, having a send-off with the king and queen of Lefaux in a wide, open field–Not just as a matter of being in a neutral space, but because the Dragonlord needed an egregious amount of empty space to take on his preferred form before taking off.

In the distance of this great, nearly flat field, one could see the royal palace, the watchtower, and even the mega-architecture where the advisors most often spent their time. The exchange between the rulers had been most pleasant. The Dragonlord had seemingly been meaning to talk about a lot of things, which ended up extending his stay from just a visit to bring back a bizarre dragon to several days of diplomacy and negotiating.

Ronarkatast began unfurling his wings, and Solast did the same.

“On this note… It was a pleasure doing business with you. If this dragon turns out to be more interesting than it seems, I’ll send you the egg of a draconic pure spirit-”

Just as he said this, the world darkened. The continental barrier of Lefaux had suddenly become opaque, taking on a deep shade of black, blocking out all of the light from the continent’s sun, nonetheless, just as if night have fallen, the plant life seemed to spring to life, becoming bioluminescent, giving off a soft shine that soon illuminated large swats of the continent, allowing all to see.

“…I do not often come by. Is this normal?”

The Dragonlord spoke–Just like usual–Very nonchalantly, and although taken aback by the abnormal occurrence, the king and queen of Lefaux did not panic either, maintaining their cool.

“To answer your question, this is perfectly abnormal. It seems like our great continental barrier is malfunctioning. People should already be on their way to fixing the problem… For now, leaving might not be possible, or perhaps even dangerous. So it would be best if you would stay here for a while longer”

Gargantax Torh was the one to speak first. He had done a lot of work on the mechanisms of the barrier alongside Pylhta Hilio.

The Dragonlord shrugged.

“I’ve already lived well over a thousand years. I can wait a little while for a barrier”

They waited for a little while, but the situation did not change despite the fact that several people were always ready to deal with a problem regarding the barrier, and also despite several contingency plans and repair protocols having been put in place to ensure the barrier would never have to remain either inactive, or… Like it was right now. Seemingly working, but performing unintended actions.

The ‘blackout’ effect was actually something that had been integrated into the barrier, but it was supposed to only apply this effect when viewed from the outside, when activated. Not on the inside like this.

It was supposed to act like a one-way mirror, allowing defenders on the inside to see clearly while blocking out the view and senses of attackers on the outside.

Evidently, despite successful past tests, something was wrong with this particular function of the barrier…

Eventually, a familiar figure approached.

An advisor rushed, paying their due diligence by properly greeting the king and queen before making a rather concerning report.

“There has been an intrusion inside the barrier room! At the moment, no one has been able to enter yet. We are unaware of who or what we are dealing with exactly, but they seemed to have at least somewhat of an understanding of how the barriers work”

“…If you would pardon us, Mister Ronarkatast. It seems that we have an emergency on our end”

Pylhta Hilio pulled her husband aside, secretly exchanging mental words back and forth with him.

“Do you think it could be…?”

Her question was immediately answered as the ground nearby cracked, revealing a slithering mass of putrescence, which soon formed into a humanoid shape.

“I would recommend that you surrender”

Gargantax Torh and Pylhta Hilio had never personally seen Loimos before, but it was hard not to know about his existence, as the General of The Vanguard, he was the first and primary antagonist to any free non-undead nation. It was his forces that were the most likely to lay siege and attack first amongst all of the Undead Empire… Not to mention that he had a bit of a reputation as an absolutely, disgustingly powerful entity.

Everyone tensed up on his arrival. Seemingly, no one was willing to accept the recommendation he so ‘kindly’ offered them. Not that they had time to do much, as almost exactly three seconds after he appeared, the distance watchtower suddenly burst with a rolling smog of pink.

The haze spread rapidly, seemingly endless as it accumulated, swallowing wide spans of its surroundings before pressing onward in every direction…

With everyone’s attention focused on Loimos and the pink mist, no one noticed as the advisors lost their form, turning into a mask humanoid, wielding two incredibly thin and fragile-looking blades.

Without hesitation, the assassin stabbed the Sapient Golem King and Pure Spirit Queen while they were distracted by not just two things that required attention, but also an unseen pull created by Loimos to ensure that the Fin-Limier leader’s actions would not be noticed.

The two daggers immediately shattered after stabbing through their respective targets–They had not failed, they had merely been made into one-use items to really bring the highest possible power out of them as was possible, and the effects were swift.

The king and queen were immediately struck by a wave of utter daze and sluggishness. Their senses felt completely wrong, and they lost track of the difference between left and right altogether… And then, the pink haze washed over them, inflicted ailments of its own.

“Well… My apologies for this, my friends. Such underhandedness wouldn’t have come from me normally, but such it is to lose”

Ronarkatast’s voice reached them, and they were quick to realise that they had been caught in what was essentially a sting operation. Before they could detoxify themselves, tendrils of rot pierced them, lifting them and bringing them toward the Pure Undead.

“The future of your nation rests in your hands. Either accept the proposed terms and work with us toward a slow and peaceful transition into undeath for the entirety of Lefaux–Or alternatively, you may refuse, and as such. Everyone will die today. The choice is yours. You have free will to make a decision”

Loimos spoke lots of words, but in essence, they could be boiled down to:

“Submit or everything you know and love will be destroyed”

There was no actual choice involved in the matter. They had been put into a swift and sudden checkmate without even having the occasion to fight back… They couldn’t know for sure, but this approach told them that Loimos probably knew more about them than he had any right to know.

On top of the obvious threat, they also discovered that Ronarkatast had already been defeated, which was another layer of threat in itself. This implied that Dragonnerie had already been swallowed by the Undead Empire… If the undead had managed to secretly conquer one superpower, who was to say that they had not done the same with more? Was Lefaux second? Third? Last? They could not know. They could not tell.

Coupled with the abundantly awful situation they found themselves in, it was pretty obvious that they could only capitulate and accept to submit ‘peacefully’ to the Undead Empire.

Thus, in a single good operation, Loimos successfully captured another continent. What’s best here is the substance that was spread across Lefaux by One, however. Those who came into contact with it were not only severely weakened and brought to a state akin to sleep, but they would also lose their memories of the event and the previous hours before it, of course, particularly strong individuals would require some more work than just this, but this allowed for Loimos to capture the rulers, make them sign contracts so well-worded that even The Devil in person would shed a tear.

This meant that the population would be completely clueless, making the odds of a leak about the situation occurring completely null…

Dragonnerie was conquered.

Lefaux was conquered.

Durter was well on its way to being conquered–Albeit through means much different from those employed by Loimos… But apparently, the ghoul lord had been impressively jolly lately, which was a sign that Durter had pretty much already been bound to the Undead Empire.

This meant that there was no need for Loimos to intervene in the underground continent. The situation was under control… This only left Bermude, the submerged continent. However, Loimos still knew basically nothing about the Queen-Empress.

As such, the conquest of Bermude might take a while longer to take place, but it was fine. In the meantime, Loimos would be able to watch over the new territory and deal with realms. The elemental realms, in particular.

…Or perhaps, even a certain realm renowned for its peacefulness…