Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead
Chapter 869 - 869: Houndmaster

"Hey now, none of you even have the slightest idea?" the undead looked at them all, and really, only Tahnee seemed to have a clue, but she was literally the only one that could not say a word about it!

"Damn, that actually sort of hurts the empty space in my ribcage, I literally helped you register as adventurers, I even showed you how to use weapons! Still nothing?" he did not notice any realisation and imitated a sigh.

The undead somewhat loosened the grip upon his sword, allowing the blade to point downward as he brought the hand up to his face.

"Then I guess I'll present myself… Member of the Prowling Shadows, formerly captain of the guards in Throdqdmond, Robert"

"Ah!" Eppie finally remembered, and now she just felt bad, he had genuinely been a lot of help back then, he and they weren't exactly close, but they were certainly not strangers either.

"Robert?! Why the hell are you an undead?" asked Lynn, this was the same man who had been directly present when they had fought that rotten thing way back.

"Because I died, of course, I never left Throdqdmond, I guarded it from the invasion with every ounce of life I had to offer- But despite my stubborn resistance, look at me! I have been reborn, not only have I risen once more, stronger, clearer of mind… Eternal! I was given a most grand opportunity by Lord Loimos, who would have thought that I, a forgettable, measly guard in a backwater town would eventually ascend to the rank that I now hold? Or that my potential would be able to soar? I even have a shot at becoming a lieutenant, how amazing is that?"

"That's just terrible" Cassi furrowed her brows, clutching her club.

"Speak for yourself, I used to be nothing, but now, I am a part of something greater, we, the Prowling Shadows, are in charge of many different things, there are plenty of occasion for us to better ourselves, nothing in common with serving as a mere guard to ungrateful folks…" he shook his head.

Eppie channelled multiple arts, using the fact that Robert was a talkative one to her advantage.

"But what happened? You used to be a houndmaster and great archer before being a swordsman, no?" she asked, making sure to make it sound like it was some sort of reproach in some way, which the undead assumed was directed at the empire, Eppie didn't even need to be precise, as he believed on his own that she was implying that there had been no freedom in the choosing of the caste he had ended up in.

"Heh, it is a shame for my skill with the bow, but who said anything about my hounds?" one could almost hear a grin through his tone, his hand still close to his ace, he brought to finger up to his mouth, and a loud, piercing whistle spread over the area, and instantly, several presences seemed to pop out of thin air, emerging from the nearby bushes were pale, skeletal dogs, lacking any sort of eyes, their think skin appearing to be draped over naught by bones.

The emerald light shining upon them illuminated their hollow chest and stomach cavities.

"Lord Loimos said that I had untapped talent, you can see it for yourself"

Eppie cursed under her breath, having unexpectedly caused Robert to show his cards early, without hesitation, she unleashed the magical art she had been preparing, pillars of fire erupting all over the area, specifically targeting only enemies.

Many of the hounds were incinerated before they could do anything, but a good portion managed were swift enough to avoid that fate, the same was true for their master, who rushed right at the mage, swinging his blade as though it weighed nothing.

Eppie raised her Bo staff, poising herself for impact, but there was no need as Robert was interrupted by one of his hound being launched right at him, the beast was only in contact for a second however, as he simply willed it to disappear, the canine dissipating into a fine mist.

There was no time for him to resume his previous attack, Tahnee repeatedly swung her spear at him, and even without the usage of any battle art, the tall woman was enough to force him to put his focus on her, not only was she taller than him by a margin that could not be ignored, but she wielded a long spear as well, each of swings or thrust were deemed to deal lots of damage, but Robert had no simple way of counter-attacking.

His evasive skills were on point however.

"Trying to get me to reveal my arsenal of battle arts whilst you just swing your spear without using any? I don't think so!" Robert sounded like he was having the time of his life- Or death, rather.

With utmost agility, moving with his feet barely even touching the ground, he used a simple battle art that allowed him to dodge backward and make a dozen or so meters of distance between him and Tahnee, right now, Eppie was preparing another spell to launch at him, whilst Cassi and Lynn were taking care of the remaining hounds together, but they would soon be done.

'Glorious… They've grown so much!' it almost brought a tear to his eye, but only almost due to his lack of tear ducts, or eyes for that matter.

He once again whistled, only that it did not sound the same this time, and his whistling went for a bit longer, this time, the hounds that emerged were different, their flesh burnt black and resembling charcoal as a dark inferno nested within their ribcage.

With a small gesture, the hounds charged, the fire within them growing more intense the closer they got to the livings.

"Everyone, get closer to me!" Eppie called out, moments before the hounds exploded into powerful blasts of pure heat, leaving circles of scorched ground where they had stood, the flames left behind did not linger on for too long however, they were gone before the smoke even began to clear.

One tree, whose trunk had been partly blown apart by one of the blasts, fell directly to the ground with a loud thud, just as the smoke went away, allowing anyone with sight to see a bubble-like barrier dissipating and Eppie sighing in relief.

Robert just stood in place, deflecting an arrow shot by Lynn before whistling again.

"Just letting you know, but I can do this all day" he chuckled, the rhythm and sonority of the whistle once again different, which called for hounds of a different kind…