Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead-Chapter 546 : Tower Of Chains

Arriving before this grand tower, a stalwart bastion that seemed impossible to topple, as much as it was high, it was the width of this thing that was most surprising, having imagined it as a most regular tower had been a mistake, this thing was cast out of durable iron, anchored deep into the earth, presumably extending at least as far down as it did up.

Alisart Cleavster had also thought that the name 'Chain Tower' was meant to allude to the fact that it bore a method of transportation to the empire's mainland, it probably still did, but the fact that it was ripe with actual chains had been unexpected, many constructs and floating islands were linked to it with a single chain, many staying in place at all times, some spinning around the stronghold, a few simply held up from metallic poles thrusting out the sides.

The gates were closed for now, but he could tell that the tower, every of its islands, was crawling with the undead, all thanks to that sixth sense undeath granted him, providing a keen insight when surrounded by darkness, and knowledge of any light source as well.

Miasma permeated the continent now, empowering his cold flesh…

It was hard to accept that he was no longer alive, especially after having always imagined that death was just nothingness, one moment his heart had been beating, pumping blood throughout the body and in the next, he now simply existed, he just was, and he apparently would be for eternity.

'Madness…' he thought, focusing back on the tower and all linked to it.

Although its most important feature was the array of teleportation at its very top, it seemed obvious that it also was much more than that as well, most of the strongholds built into each region also served as research facilities for the different ways of power, but the Central Plains had not held any such things, simple many budding territories at constant odds without much hope of expansion.

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Since constructing such a facility only for teleportation seemed a bit much, one had to assume that more research was taking place here, presumably the brunt of them in fact, the other bastions only serving to collect intel for the most part.

Alisart wanted to sigh, but had no air in his lungs to do so.

He had first thought that the undead were simply keeping to themselves, but that couldn't be the case as they had actually explained to him what 'orderly ranks' was and how he should and could use it, they were awfully cooperative with the newly submitted members of their empire, so much so that it only highlighted how aware they were, knowing that the majority had already resigned and decided to cooperate.

Cleavster's territory had carried the most rebels and had thus suffered quite a bit of population loss, however, the empire still managed to insert themselves as saviours to the common people, and forcing respect out of all with their overwhelming strength, all on Belliste agreed that might makes right after all.

Not to mention that their 'Lost Ossuary' served as a method to control the population as well, by having this thing spewing out naturally formed undeads into the Southern Shores, they filled up the population with already loyal members, integrating them into the south's society seamlessly.

With all of this, even the most defiant were forced into acceptance, as for the warking, he himself had had no thoughts of fighting back at all, he remembered The Death Dealer clearly, to think that Loimos could order around such a mad beast- To think that such a creature would appear to show some respect for him was rather humbling.

The more he learned of the empire, the more it cemented this idea that agreeing to integration was not only the correct choice, but one that was greatly beneficial.

Loimos and his vanguard had crushed Belliste with ease, but it was only one part of this empire, there were minor lords, gravelords and even a king at the very top, the sort of power one would need to wield to be the head of such a nation was unimaginable.

So naturally, even the poised knight king, leader of the strongest region of a continent known for its ferocity, was nervous at the idea of meeting with this 'King Nitok', not only that, but all other regional lords would also be present, all of which may be dreadfully powerful as well, or at least older and more respected than the latest additions.

Those two knights, the hands of Loimos, had said that being a regional lord was about logistics and leadership more-so than brute strength, but considering the power a run-of-the-mill elite wielded in the vanguard, it was hard to take their word for it.

Seeing this sort of power being in possession of rather minor members of this empire was certainly something, and it inspired Alisart much for his own future, he was an undead too now and he had already treaded the path of power with intensity, surely this could only mean that he would be able to progress much further, now equipped with a body all warriors dreamed of, never tiring, not requiring sustenance, without pain, allowing for maximum output with every swing.

If he could master orderly ranks, he might just qualify to become a minor lord and pave his way to even greater strength.

"Hey, Alisart! Long time no see!" a familiar voice, although somewhat changed, reached his ears, the sound of fast footsteps that made him want to raise his guard even with the lack of danger to himself even if he was crushed into soup.

"Derdlim… You look… A bit different?" Alisart himself had not changed much in death, having only earned himself the regular aspect of a recently deceased person, although, instead of blood, his cuts ooze some sort of pus now, and when it flows out, he feels additional power coursing through him.

A sign that he did become a kind of undead with a special ability, which was probably also the case for Derdlim Maulerd, as she was unmistakably changed, her skin had turned much darker, as though the body was coated by a layer of necrosis, veins and arteries glowing with a red hue, giving the man-eater an even more fearsome appearance than before.

"Say my dear knight, you've always refused me before, but what about now? We are allies- One hundred percent allies! So surely, you aren't scared of me anymore?"

'Shit'

"Well, the purpose was to unify our two territories, right? Since we are all unified technically…" he argued, taking subtle steps back as she took not-so subtle steps forward.

"Oh please, that was just a good excuse, I always just wanted to get to what was under all that armour… Mmh, I remember the first time we clashed when the regions were just established, you nearly split my head in half after I almost carved a gash across your face… I even kept the scar- It's right there"

"Ah yes, you really had me there, you should have taken the victory and ravaged me right there and then, amidst the bloody battlefield-"

"You are an absolute lunatic, Derdlim"

"Perhaps! But am I not a lunatic you would like to bed?"

"That is besides the point"

"Ah! So you do like what you see, huh?"

"That's not what I said…"

"But that's what you thought! I can smell it! If you want to- Just say it and I am yours, you are dead now anyways, you won't feel it when I bite"

"You used to say that you didn't bite"

"I was lying- I mean, I don't bite anything and everything, I'll just nibble on your ears and sink my teeth into your shoulders, I won't tear something off, I swear! You know what? I'll show it to you right now!"

"By divine grace, no you're not!"

From the side, Irlke Combuscrus and Jaral Cribler had stopped a distance away as this scene unfolded.

"Ah, isn't it beautiful, love blooming?"

"You call that love?"

"Of course, did you and Alintair not try to murder one another as your first encounter?"

"No, we just aimed for the same target and then we got to know one another"

"Huh… That's pretty weird, Jaral, are you sure? Me and Hylop tried to immolate one another, that got us very close"

"Did it?"

The gates opened at last, allowing Cleavster to get away from the warqueen.