Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

Alkayne had been wondering about the purpose of every single spell-hex Jormunal had put upon herself, he had first assumed that they were physical reinforcements and the likes, after all, spell-hexes, typically wielded like curses, were meant to inflict a passive effect upon the target, such a gradual weakening, an illness or more obviously malediction-like ailment.

Obviously, the woman with antlers wouldn't have put such things upon herself, so Alkayne expected them to more akin to blessings, but when she first fired that bolt of fire with the one etched upon her right palm, the zombie was genuinely surprised, that was beyond simply being advanced, Jormunal had equipped herself with what was very much an ability to throw a spell at will, and without a cost beside the initial one from putting the hex in place.

It was like having a magical item with a spell stored within, only that it was forever and was pretty much an integral part of you, it was simply incredible, and if he wasn't trying to murder her, he probably would have highly praised such a thing, which Jormunal seemed to consider as normal.

Following the combination of the fire hex of her right hand and wind hex of her left hand, Alkayne expected a deluge of more unique abilities to come for the hexes that had yet to light up and demonstrate their capabilities, but instead, the living said something to him, sounding awfully rattled and straight-up panicked.

'I suppose she isn't used to actually fighting?' that made sense however, with that ability to turn so perfectly invisible that even using the air currents could not help in detecting her unless she moved, nothing could possibly pose a threat in this realm, so Jormunal had just been collecting what was needed to hex-crafting and happily working away.

Alkayne was pretty sure she was responsible for the famine from then years ago, and also probably been the one to create the curse originally, or wield it in any manner he supposed, he did not know why she seemed to be out for blood against the kalt, especially when claimed to be a priestess of the very same goddess they also worshipped.

But whatever may be the reason, Alkayne wanted her to become an undead, she was most certainly the most knowledgeable living of this realm, if there was anything to know, she would know it.

When the hex upon her forehead lit up however, the ambiance instantly changed, nothing changed visibly but a certain pressure instilled itself into the air, although she might appear difficult to catch, Alkayne had been pretty confident that deal with her once he managed to peer into her patterns a little bit, literally one good hit and she would have been done for.

'Mmh, with my soldier down here, going too hard will probably bury us all on top of probably slicing a few of them inadvertently…' due to being a commander, Alkayne was pretty much always limiting the scope and area of effect of his attacks, the spectral standard was a powerful artefact that General Loimos had created and gifted to him, but like everything that Loimos handed out, it was something that required to be mastered and understood, which could not be done on a whim.

As such, although its effects were already exceptional, it wasn't enough for his soldiers to quickly overcome the golems, which were themselves already powerful and further enhanced by the many spell-hexes and totem-hexes around, that advantage was declining however, the soldier that had leapt into the water had already reached the bottom and begun destroying the many totems there.

Launching a concentrated blade of wind at the living, he simultaneously raised his halberd waving the flag wrapped around it.

His words of death tongue reverberating against the cavernous walls.

"Glory, brave knights!" not mere words of encouragement, they were a battle art that strengthened his troops, that effect was further amplified by the spectral standard, but such things were quickly overlooked as Jormunal casually flicked her wrist and deflected the blade of wind.

'Indeed, I'll have to hit especially hard, it seems' Alkayne wasn't worried, he knew his strength, he had adapted to the terrain, he had a grasp of who his enemy was as a person, and he had many cards up his sleeves to play if the situation turned to his disadvantage, in his case, he could have his head blown off or half of his body evaporated, and he would still be able to use these cards without problems.

That was an advantage of being undead, you could keep your reserves without much worry unless your enemy had a way to deal immense damage in a single strike to your entire body, as a minor lord, this fact was even truer, to put him down and have him sent back to The Graveyard, one would require to completely eradicate at least three quarters of his body.

He paid close attention to the living, the chances weren't obvious, in fact, many would consider that it was nothing more than a buff, she hadn't gotten stronger, at least not enough to be worth mentioning, the hexes didn't seem to behave any differently.

But Alkayne could tell that something rather important had drastically been altered.

'I see… I guess she knows that it's a weakness' the hex on her forehead wasn't a super boost, it had simply suppressed her fear, worries and apprehension, allowing her to truly demonstrate the sort of power she was capable of when not afraid of fighting for real.

As such, she was the one that chose to close the distance, a variety of hexes lighting up all over her body, some even seemed to have been placed directly inside of her, only then did her actual strength, speed and resilience go up, swiping her claws at Alkayne's face, dividing the air with a whistling noise.

Alkayne replied in kind, his halberd soaring in a wide arc, dark lightning and freezing winds surrounding and following his every motions, but even then, Jormunal did not back down, in fact, she didn't even take a single step back, the frost was counteracted by her rising body temperatures, he heart beginning to beat faster, pumping blood more strongly.

As for the necrosis, it was countered by the many hexes she used to prevent her body from wasting away as it should.

Instead, she moved even closer, thrusting her right hand through the undead's guts, her claws proved formidable, much more formidable than they had any right to be in fact, tearing through the armour and dead flesh with ease, rupturing the spine and sticking out the other end.

Such damage was only noteworthy to livings, Alkayne just twisted his body a bit, effectively preventing her from ripping her arm right out, and grabbed her arm, squeezing it tightly enough for her bones to groan.

Erupting with his innate ability, compressing its effect to just the area right around him.

A loud growl escaped the living's skull as she tried to pull away, attempting to sever the arm holding onto her, but stopping at the last moment, as she spotted him sliding his hold upon his halberd closer to the axe-head, even at such a close distance, she felt convinced that he would manage to swing it and sever her other arm instead.

Gritting her teeth, Jormunal willed the hexes maintaining her arm to fade away, causing it to suddenly grow weak and feeble, signs of decay manifesting independently from the necrosis inflicted by the zombie, by simply forcing, she ripped herself away.

The living grabbed the stump, the pain was simply indescribable.

"You can keep this arm"

"Why thank you! But I cannot accept it, I'll return it after this fight, alright?"

"How noble…"

"Nothing of the sort, we'll be friends once it is over, after all"

The living hissed, that was her right arm that she had lost, her primary one, now her balance would be all messed up and she would be prone to trying to swing the missing limb out of habit.

That was far from great.