Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead
Chapter 868 - 868: Prowling Shadow

Undeads continued to advance, soon arriving into the western portion of the realm, and expectedly, the livings could not stand still whilst this was happening, so with utmost caution, some of them exited the safety of the pyramidal barrier, aiming to swiftly intercept the enemies.

Death hunters moved in toward the group of three corpses furthest from the barrier, whilst a certain quartet made their way toward the lone cadaver closest, naturally, the latter team were the first to encounter their target, finding an undead garbed in black from head to toe, seemingly expecting visit as he was sitting on a rock protruding from the ground when they arrived.

His physical appearance was most hard to distinguish or even guess, all that was apparent was that his hands, wrapped in dark fabric, were thin- Skeletal.

The undead's head rose up to stare ahead before the quartet could even get a good look at him, prompting them to step out into the open with careful steps, there was no telling if this was actually some sort of ambush, after all, but nothing happened, this one truly seemed to be all by himself.

"Truly, the stars must have aligned themselves for such a fortuitous encounter to occur- For that amongst all of the possible livings to come out and confront me to be the four of you" speaking with a discernible amount of glee, the four women looked at one another.

"Is this fucker dropping a pick-up line on us?"

"That's quite ballsy…"

"Why do I feel like I recognise that voice?"

Eppie spoke last, raising an eyebrow as she began to prepare a fiery art already, the undead before them rose up from the rock he sat upon, standing in a non-threatening manner as he slightly tilted his head to the side.

"Recognise? Did I hear that correctly, I was afraid that my voice and disposition would no longer be so recognisable, but I see that you are still the most discerning, Eppie!" reaching for the blade upon his back, grasping the hilt but not yet pulling it out of the sheath.

"Who is this guy? Gives me the heebie jeebies how he talks like he knows us personally" Lynn also began to pull on the string of her bow, charging an art.

"I personally don't remember knowing any creepy dude like that" Cassi barred her club, the Kanabo beginning to tremble as an art was being channelled through it.

Tahnee clenched her spear, ready to step in front of her allies if necessary, her eyes narrowing as though already grasping something that the others had not.

Eppie frowned as well, the voice sounded familiar somehow, but she couldn't quite place who was supposed to be its owner.

Who did the four of them know personally, that could have possibly shown up as an undead anyways? They barely ever interacted with anyone outside of each other, and this had been the case since the very start of their adventuring career, apart from the occasional boyfriends and other adventurers they spoke with- But no one that would appear so familiar with them, or was there?

"Mmh… So you four really did learn battle arts under Lady Syklon, huh? It's hard to imagine the four ragtag adventurers from Throdqdmond would go on to become so distinguished! Truly, the youth is always full of surprises" right hand still gripping the handle of his blade, whilst the entirety of his right arm was concealed beneath a small cloak that only covered that side, tension was rising as it seemed like the undead could charge at any moment, as it seemed like the quartet could decide to throw the first strike with every passing second.

"...I haven't personally learned from her, but the few arts I was taught and refined were created by Lord Loimos- Should I demonstrate, or would it be possible for me to lay out the benefits of undeath to you four beforehand?"

They did not respond, only the sound of wood squeaking sounding out throughout the woods.

"That is a shame then, I am sure Sweet Holli would find you four most amusing" the undead released his grip on his sword and took a step back, confusing the quartet who wasn't certain what he was planning.

As soon as he did that, he unsheathed his blade and rushed forward with light steps, moving sharply from side to side, but the quartet was not taken by surprise, such movements were not exactly uncommon in Tochian combats, which they had learned the ins and outs of under the best possible teacher.

A wall of flames surged right in front of the undead, blocking passage, followed by multiple arrows, which pierced right through the blazing veil, some of which arched right toward him in a most unnatural fashion, but he could detect the presence of arts upon them.

'Magical art first, bow art second- Former blocks detection of oncoming arts…' he analysed in his mind, channelling an art of his own into his blade, which was a surprisingly a straight sword, and about one-hundred and thirty centimeters in length, which made one wonder how the undead had even been able to pull it out when it was strapped to his back.

But no one had time to question that, the blade dimly shone as he deflected the arrows, the art he used meant to simply counter the arts imbued into the arrows, depleting their abnormal strength and thus, allowing him to knock them down without using much strength.

The curtain of flames cleared up, right as Tahnee bursted through it, swinging her spear in a wide arc, swiping at the undead's legs, who backed off with a jump, only to find out that Cassi had taken the long way around and that he had just dodged right into her range.

The club forced its way through the air as she stomped her foot down, poising herself into the most optimal position to dish out some damage, the undead rose his blade, pinning one side against his chest as it once again glew faintly, the Kanabo smashing against his chest moments later, sending him flying back.

Cassi clicked her tongue, most of the additional force provided by the battle art she had used had been dispelled by his own art, and as far as damage went, she felt like she had broken a few ribs, but it really was just a scratch for an undead.

"Alright, I wasn't expecting the resident silly girl to come up with something so quickly, I should have been more careful" the undead spoke in a playful tone.

"Seriously, who the hell are you?!"

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