Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead-Chapter 756 Operation Arid Soil Part Sixty-Seven

756: Operation Arid Soil : Part Sixty-Seven

756: Operation Arid Soil : Part Sixty-Seven

As though perfectly intended, the instant, both of the living’s blinked, Ir’Houwl emerged out of the smoke caused by the blast of vapour like a devil out of hell, the condensed explosive solar spell had went right by her head and reduced part of the shadowy clothing there to shreds, leaving a piece of tattered dark fabric to swing chaotically as she rushed forward.

The runes upon her scimitars were glowing in the same shade of red as her sand, and exerting her innate ability greatly, she swung both blades before even reaching the two Ersta’ras, launching forth condensed slashes of red sand through the air, the two melded together as soon as they appeared, reaching a length superior to that of nearly ten meters.

Moreover, it was shaped like a crescent moon but the inner portion was directed at the livings, the whole thing closing in like a bear trap the instant it got within range, but both of them managed to duck under the attack.

The area trembled as tendrils of red sand emerged everywhere, lashing out at the livings and trying to latch onto them by any means necessary, Khasekhemwy and Ny-Hor did not allow themselves to be distracted however, swiftly closing in on the undead once more, expanding their vapour at a steady rate, to augment themselves and deliver furious strike that shook the sand.

‘This woman is an actual corpse!

What the hell am I fighting?!’ the Prime Ersta’ra was visible confused, with the fabric that had covered her head torn, it allowed the two livings to get a much better grasp of such what their opponent looking like, it wasn’t pretty, and it very much odd, one could clearly she that her mask was pretty much fused into her skull, and that said skull was not covered up by any skin, at least in most areas.

The skull bones were far from pristine white either, they were greyish and visible eroded, but she did retain some of her scalp, with bits of fossilised hair still clinging on, truly, Ir’Houwl was a most awful sight, and it didn’t help that not that nothing was obstructing vision on her head movements, that they could clearly see that the minor lord was awfully stiff, her neck did not move, only her skull did, pivoting around without restrain.

But Ny-Hor didn’t let the horrifying sight disturb him, dodging a tendril that attempted to stab through his face, the bandaged old man approached from one side as Khasekhemwy did the same from the opposite direction, this time, neither hesitated to fully commit to an offensive as the pressure around the battlefield was mounting, and not just here, but within the desert as a whole.

Every time one of their fellow worshipper was killed, they felt it, and moreover, if they knew the slain specifically, they could tell just who it was that died, and many of the Ersta’las and Ersta’sols they had personally trained and instructed were being slaughtered every minute, some were giving more push back against the undead, but still, the situation of the desert was grim.

Fairly certain that Ir’Houwl was indeed the leader and had not lied about it, they could only do their best to cut off the hydra’s golden head to put the foul beast down for good and have a chance at preventing any further casualties.

Also, the intensity of the very battle they were fighting right there and then was making their weathered old bones churn like they had regained the combative spirits of their younger years, back when they were defending a city against relentless assaults by giants, back then, there had been no Ersta’ra to guide them.

Right now, it was like they were back to the very first time they took on a giant and had to work together for what felt like an eternity to bring this single foe down, the victory had been cathartic… This sensation was flowing through them, renewed and it could be sensed in the flow of their vapour.

Both were entering a state of utter focus as their performances and movements became perfectly natural.

They deflected swings of the stone blades, kicks and all manners of sand attack- They had become so much stronger than when they had struggled to take down a single, measly giant, but the memory remained unforgettable.

The minor lord was still keeping up nonetheless, dealing with both of them as the same time without any sign of strain, but they could only suppose that it made sense, they were facing a corpse after all, she wasn’t bound by the same constraints as the living, splitting her attention to two opponents was no problem for Ir’Houwl.

But no matter how many time she swung and launched an attack, no matter how many times she made the area erupt with red sand or flooded it completely, the two Ersta’ras were not falling, their defences remained stalwart, preventing even a single grain from touching them, when she separated them to deal with a single one, he would just go on the defensive and stop attacking until the other rejoined.

With ease, they created solid platforms upon the air to shift their level of elevation on a whim, they were adapting.

But so was she.

Ny-Hor threw a kick, which seemed like it was going to be deflected by the side of one of the scimitars, but at the last moment, the blade simply vanished out of thin air.

‘What in the-‘ the Watchful Ersta’ra was taken aback by the never-seen-before ability, Ir’Houwl did not her swords around for show, she did so to precisely because they could be summoned and unsummoned at will- To make sure that her enemies couldn’t even begin to guess that it was a thing, this might not work on those who knew of the advanced might of the empire, but the realm dwellers were clueless.

The bandaged man’s ankle was grasped, and tightly squeezed, Ir’Houwl focusing her innate ability toward Khasekhemwy to keep him at bay momentarily, she had to act quickly as her grasp alone wasn’t enough to do much, especially when her opponents could heal themselves.

Ny-Hor was tough, and reinforced as he was, his ankle was not going to break so easily, furthermore, he was using his vapour to create a solid bubble around it and wrench out of tyrannical grasp.

It would only take a few moments for him to just detonate his energy to escape.

Before he could do this, a strange sensation washed over the living, naturally, he had kept his defences up as Ir’Houwl manifested red sand right from her palm, attempting to force it upon his skin, and the other scimitar was already raised up, it would come down any second from now, but the minor lord assumed that a severed limb would just regrow, so she was not hasty and focused on the seldom-used ability that General Loimos had imparted upon the minor lords as a sign that he truly believed them to be capable of achieving the rank of gravelord.

An ability originally created by King Nitok in person, lifedrain.

The technique was more widespread than it used to be, originally only in use by the king himself and the gravelords, lesser variations were in circulation amongst the empire as battle arts and spells, but the original was neither of those and more of an exertion of death’s authority.

Ir’Houwl could only use it to a small degree, but the effects of having one’s life force pulled out of you were great no matter the actual quantity that was being stolen, or the speed of the act.

Ny-Hor was shaken, and his defences weakened for an instant, allowing a few grains of sand to get into contact with him and drain away.