Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead-Chapter 750 - Operation Arid Soil Part Sixty-One

750: Operation Arid Soil : Part Sixty-One

750: Operation Arid Soil : Part Sixty-One

“Sir, the previous reports were correct, the city and all of its town have been overtaken by a mysterious plant growth, greenery and trees like we thought only existed in fairy tales are everywhere, and apart from the handful of civilians that have come to bring the news of an attack from the three abhorred faiths, no other survivors have been found- In fact, we have not even been able to confirm the presence of any corpse… Our scouts are too afraid of the dark of these oases to dare venture too close to them” a man dressed in bright yellow robes spoke with a bow, only raising his head against when the person he was addressing spoke up.

“I see, anything else?” the man’s robes were the same colour, only bearing additional decoration.

“The civilians from this city also mentioned that there had been a monster problem recently in one of the towns, an alliance of many orcs and molochites, it seemed to coincide with the problems that other towns have been experiencing lately, and it is all in an area close to the oases”

The man in decorated robes stood upright despite his old age, stroking a long beard adorned with many rings of various metallic sheen, his thick eyebrows casting dark shadow over sunken eyes, making knowing what the elder was looking at or possibly thinking nearly impossible.

“Aah… A coalition of both the three despicables and monsters?

That would be rather novel, I do wonder how the butchers could be convinced not to mince their so-called allies… How much do you mean my ‘many’?

As in just a bit more than one might expect, or multiple tribes put together?” the elder looked up at the ceiling, where there was a well carved all the way through, allowing the bright radiance of Prime Undeviginti to flow in.

“According to the reports, the numbers were far above anything anyone had ever seen before, be it for the orcs or molochites” replied the younger man.

“Mmh… These monsters are social creatures, but they are still savages and operate on societies ruled by fear and strength, they can not develop greater numbers without imploding or splitting apart… This can not be natural, and adding the fact that the two species are working together, they are definitely being compelled, no amount of promise or coercion could keep such a force united, though the means to force monsters to do your bidding are unknown…” the old rambled in a low tone for a few moments “…In any case, consider the monsters and three unified faiths as one and the same for now, where one is, expect the other”

“If there is nothing else, you are dismissed”

The old man walked further into the wide halls of the great solar temple, soon entering a room which entrance was aptly concealed, and sat opposite to another elder, dressed in pale blue robes bearing similar additional decorations to his, although, this man had fingers covered in scars like they had been broken many times over, his face wrapped in bandage, only allowing one eye to peek through.

“I had not been expecting for the tricksters, butchers and heretics to ally together once again… Just some time ago, I had received word that they were still all fragmented groups, the illusory worshippers simply moving with the flow, the sanguine worshippers still planning on how to bring us watchful worshippers down, and cleansing worshippers still wandering and seeking to massacre… The timing of their unification is too sudden, there is no way for these three to find a common ground so quickly and be capable of working together in such little time, not to mention for them to somehow recruit the monsters as well” the bandaged elder brought a cup made out of sandstone up to his mouth, bandages parting to allow the liquid in.

“Clearly, something is fishy… Perhaps one of their Undeviginti has achieved true sapience like ours?” he added after drinking.

“Now, do not speak of the worst case scenario just yet, Ny-Hor” replied the other elder, his eyes still shrouded with shadows.

“Heh, should it not be a cause for celebration?

All other suns are a part of Prime Undeviginti, is that not what you believe?”

“Perhaps so, but for us, that would be a most troublesome development, can you imagine the sanguine or cleansing followers acquiring proper guidance from their patron sun?

That would be a nightmare through and through, now… If it was just the illusory worshippers, we could discuss and be civil about it, but all three are together now, they will certainly seek to seize the capital and its unique resources for themselves eventually” the bearded man’s eyes shone brightly as his face contorted into a scowl.

“As Ersta’ra, it is our mission to prevent this from happening”

“To that, I agree- But we can’t just walz in there without understanding how this all happened, something is definitely happening behind the scenes, as I said, their unification and recruitment of the monsters was too fast and unnatural, there are only a few possibilities I can think of…” Ny-Hor rubbed one of his shoulders, closing his only visible eye before continuing to speak.

“…What I already stated, at least one of their Undeviginti has achieved higher intelligence”

“One of their members has achieved the status of Ersta’ra”

“A solar beast has awoken and is puppeteering everything”

“Or an unknown party has appeared and recruited them all- What do you think, Khasekhemwy?”

“The last two options feel highly improbable, we may not know much about solar beasts, but the only one the desert has ever witnessed in action simply trampled everything with pure power, and besides, you and I both keep a close eye on the areas where solar beasts are in wait…”

“…And an unknown party is simply hard to imagine, where would they have come from?”

“The first possibility is not impossible, but the second one seems like the most likely, an Ersta’ra governs power far beyond that of even an Ersta’sol, such an individual could definitely enforce their will and vision upon the other faiths without problem and perhaps even subdue monsters into doing their bidding” the Prime Ersta’ra sighed.

“That Ersta’ra would most certainly be a youngling, the two of us could easily take care of them” reassured the Watchful Ersta’ra.

“That much is a given, so much so that they would know as well and will absolutely never come forward, but anyways… Most likely possibility or not, we have to prepare like all four could be true, so I shall put skills as a master-builder to good use… Though, I’ll be off to see Menka first” Khasekhemwy smiled, and the bandaged elder was visibly disgusted even with most of his face covered up.

“I still don’t understand what you find so nice about… Her”

“It’s pure love, Ny-Hor, maybe you’ll understand before you die of old age”

“Anyways, I’ll be preparing our warriors on my end, do not play for too long”