Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead
Chapter 802 - 802: Storm Rises

"You tried to heal using the water element, didn't you?"

"Yeah"

"And you almost drowned them… Ilona, you really need to realise that healing yourself and healing others are two completely different things, not everyone is capable of being a healer, but if you insist on continuing, just come by the house and I'll help you learn- The girls quite like you, so you just need to agree to help me with them…"

"Urgh… I don't know why kids love me so much, I can't ever fathom how I am supposed to act around them" the otherworlder visibly cringed, but nodded her head nonetheless.

"Well, they are cute at least" she added afterward, making Helena beam a bright smile.

"Great then- Though, that was even worse than your fire attempt, somehow, your mana is very aggressive, I don't know if it's due to some of its aspects, or if you are just unconsciously thinking that mana is meant for combat, but those two really just nearly passed out"

The otherworlder shrugged.

"I mean… I only want to learn how to heal others because I was told that it would help better control my mana and cast more lethal spells, so…"

Helena sighed and directed her gaze at the actual reason why she was here, the stone formation had already regenerated to perfect condition, everyone who had been searching the steam had gathered in this one place, and was currently trying to find a way to pierced the steel that stopped them from entering what was without the shadow of a doubt, the hidden keep of the invaders, where they certainly kept their gateway hidden.

"Seeing this, it makes pretty much no doubt that they aren't actually funnelling their troops out physically, but are using some sort of methods to teleport, or warp them to other areas of the realm instead… Though, I wonder what that method could be? Is it randomised? Do they need some sort of structure or something akin to a magic circle where they are being sent? If it is random, could invaders just pop inside of the barrier? Or does it prevent that as well? And anyways… It has to be fairly sophisticated considering the amount of soldiers, and the sheer size of some of them…" Antieeld was muttering without stopping into her gloved palm, her one remaining eye seeming to shine with interrogation and curiosity.

"Little commandant?"

"-Please don't call me that"

"It made you smile though, that has been getting pretty rare for the past years"

"..."

"I suppose that you are correct, that nickname reminds me of simpler times… I wish I could have remained that prideful little noble girl, I believe myself a better person now, but there are things that I would have rather not lost"

"But anyways, would you be willing to activate your zone against this slab of steel? In terms of pure magical power and precision, you are unmatched, who knows, maybe it is weaker against purely mana-based attacks?" spoke the commandant, crossing her arms.

"Sure, if I take my time to activate it, I should be able to minimise the mana cost and subsequent strain… But shouldn't you ask Milo first? He has the highest attack power by far amongst us"

"I know, but your husband- His golden mana is something quite special, call it a sense granted by my innate talent, but I have a feeling that we would be better off not having him show it off too much to the enemy if possible… For some reason it is a bit foggy, but it reminds me of something- But anyways, you are the only one capable of a zone amongst us still, so there is no doubt that you are the most skilled in energy manipulation" spoke Antieeld, still after all these years, Helena remained the only one who had achieved this supreme technique.

"You speak too highly of me, this spell wasn't even able to take out a single enemy"

"You shouldn't talk yourself down like this, it has improved tremendously since then… I am certain Miss Rosemary would be proud of you"

Helena smiled a bit thinking of their teacher, it was strange, but in the small amount of time they had known her, the Volcano Witch had become a great influence upon all of her students.

"By the way, while I got you here… Remember last time you came by the house?"

"And I showed your eldest how to hold a sabre? You gave me an earful for putting a real sword in her hands"

"Well, Lizi is partly obsessed with swords now, and since neither me nor Milo actually know how to do that, would Aunty Antieeld mind giving her sword lessons, so that she doesn't hurt herself swinging random stuff at random things?" Helena grinned.

"Ahah… Sure… But… That Aunty Antieeld stuff, you made it up, right? Lizi doesn't actually call me that, right?"

"That's the better alternative, otherwise you would have been stuck as Lady Sword"

"Lady- Alright… Aunty Antieeld isn't that bad I guess…"

Helena chuckled to herself, silently casting spell that tore apart the stone in the area revealing a wide, flat piece of steel, at a glance, it didn't look like anything special, but upon a closer inspection, it became rather clear that this one had been formed from melding many differents ressources together, and that it had all gone through a lengthy process, Helena could tell that runes, sigils, magic circles, and enchanting had been a part of the whole thing, but it was fairly obvious that much more than that had been put to use.

In short, the material that they were using as the outer structure of their hideout was about what one would expect a mythical sword to be forged out of, but it was the undead they were talking about, this sort of thing was probably considered basic to them, they simply did things on a completely different level compared to them.

'I wonder why they don't provide any of this sort of stuff to their troops here… Lack of resources?' the weapons and gear of the soldiers in white was not ordinary, but rather mundane in the grand scheme of things, the special effects were solely linked to preventing the weapons and such from falling in the hands of others, instead of providing greater lethality or protectiveness.

It was meaningless to try to understand the undead however, their minds were warped and corrupted, only one seeking to fall in the pits of madness would truly attempt such an endeavour.

Helena breathed in and out, focusing intently as wind mana coursed throughout her entire body.

"Zone"

And the raging tornado once again came into existence.