Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead-Chapter 1246: No New Beginnings Once This Ends

The first action the undeads took was a simple one. Thanks to the work of Yuolrt, the Empire had access to countless kinds of plants–Both living and dead. Thus, the invaders planted living trees which had been created specifically to produce a special kind of fungal mist. One's senses could hardly peer through it, and with the amount the undeads planted alongside the rich, life-filled environment of the realm… The trees thrived.

Within just a single, pitch-black night. The spherical barriers were surrounded by a great, artificial forest. The spores constantly emitted by the trees accumulated in great amounts, making it impossible to see what was going on outside without getting a higher point of view, or risking exiting the barriers and traversing the mist…

This served two obvious purposes. Blocking out the vision of the livings, letting their minds fill in the blanks, and also allowing the undeads to operate with more secrecy, for all the inhabitants knew, undeads would be standing just a couple of meters away from the edge of the barrier, simply standing there, or preparing to attack.

It was impossible to tell for the most part. Some faint presences could be felt from time to time, but that was it. The livings were left to speculate what the next move of their enemies might be, and to wonder what action they themselves should be taking now.

There were several schools of thought in regards to the latter. Some believed that it would be best to try and extend the period of relative peace so that they could focus on developing and upgrading their defences further, but some strongly believed that the fungal haze was a prelude to an attack that would soon come. Thus, they believed that they needed to strike back now.

Both options had their merit, but it was clear that the undeads were making a move of some kind. Not responding as quickly as possible would be a mistake on their part, but there was discourse about what exactly should be done. Many complicated and elaborate ideas were brought up, most wanted to play it as safely as possible by simply bombarding from behind the safety of the barrier, but in the end, it all boiled down to a most simple idea.

"So… We just need to take down those trees, right? We destroy them, the mist goes away, and the undeads are forced to replace the trees that we've gotten rid of, and thus… We keep on stalling in this manner?"

Lizi scratched her head. She didn't know why everyone was using so many words to describe such a simple concept, but the old-timers, those who had been there during the first exodus and had thus experienced the second one as fully aware adults, had fear in their eyes.

Frankly, she had never seen these people appear so afraid. They hid the scars of the past very well. The only person Lizi had ever known to be deeply and openly marked by the past was Antieeld… Even then, the commandant remained awfully stoic most of the time. One could only tell by that odd, melancholic expression in her eyes.

"Yes…But the question is, how are we going to do it, exactly?"

"...I could just go out and chop off the trees with my sword-"

"Lizi. I am not letting you out of the barrier with undeads roaming around"

"Mom… I can't do anything else but swing my sword! I'll be useless otherwise!"

"There is no shame in not putting your life on the line. We have plenty of mages who can take care of those trees behind the safety of the barriers"

"...I bet those threes are mana resistant anyway"

"Mmh…"

"Aherm… Sorry to interrupt, but there are lots of those trees all over the place, and from the looks of things, they are stacked tightly together. Even if we have lots of mages, if we want to put the most amount of pressure on the undeads possible, we'll have to split up all over the place, so… I fear that if we want this plan to work, we'll need all the help we can get"

Échalas spoke his mind on the topic, and as much as Helena would have liked to refute him, he was correct to believe this. There wasn't much she could do against logic and her oldest daughter–Anyway, Lizi was an adult now. So it wasn't like Helena could force her to do anything.

Well… Lizi would listen for sure, but she didn't have to. She was no longer a child.

In fact, at her age, Helena had already been a mother…

"Alright, alright… Antieeld, please keep an eye on Lizi and Griar"

Helena was too powerful not to be placed somewhere strategic. She and other mages would place themselves into a long line so as to truly tear apart as much length of the artificial forest as was possible. Obviously, those who stepped outside the barrier couldn't be around when they unleashed hell in the form of a magical artillery, so she wouldn't be able to keep an eye on her two children, who favoured up-close tactics.

Louizon, Alize, Zaya, and Zally would be safe behind the barrier and not too far away from her.

"Excuse me. The plan sounds fine and all, but… The undeads planted and grew everything right under our noses by taking advantage of a moonless night. What's stopping them from doing the same thing over and over again? Or worse, from making a more dangerous move in the dead of night?"

Eppie was the one to speak.

"That was an oversight on our part. We will need tighter surveillance during the night… Perhaps we are too trusting of the barriers, in a sense. It isn't unlikely that the undeads have some means to bypass such defences, or at least momentarily weaken them enough to perform some form of action"

Archbishop Joala reassured in a soothing tone.

"Should we bring out the life mist generators? Our boy Liebeln has built some impressive facilities as well. We could probably flood a large portion of the realm with a fog of our own if we want to"

Abraham spoke his own piece. There was the worry that the undead would adapt to what was thrown at them, but what were the odds that they didn't already have means to defend against life mist? It is a common staple of the Death Hunters. There is no way the Undead Empire doesn't have at least a few dozen means to nullify its effects.

For the old hunter, either the invaders had the means ready to be used, or they weren't able to bring them for some reason, or they were only able to bring lesser means that would truly get rid of the problem for them.

The only justification not to drown the corpses in the white mist was in case they had the full means to defend against it, and it was thus kept as a surprise… But Abraham did not see how or why the undeads wouldn't carry said means on them to begin with.

"I suppose there is indeed no real reason to hold onto this particular ace of ours… I say we should still wait for when some undeads are in proximity to the barriers, though. We might as well see firsthand how effective the mist is"

Everyone agreed on this point. Discussion continued for a while after that, but the decisions were made. Although not literally an act of aggression, one would have to be blind not to see what was going on here. The undeads were creating a smokescreen that could allow them to approach whilst concealed.

The danger of such a thing could not be exaggerated.

As such, the very next day, the livings made their move, the casters all gathered into a lengthy line near the barrier's edge. They faced the fungal fog. Their targets were unseen amidst the thick mist, but they knew where to aim.

In unison, they launched powerful spells. Their strength shoved the particles of fungus away, revealing the destruction set upon the trees. Seeing immediate and greatly noticeable results boosted their confidence, and they kept going until they were able to see further into the plains of green–A portion of the artificial forest had been cleared, but there remained much more.

Meanwhile, further away, groups of close-quarters combatants had instead been deployed to actually step out of the barrier–Minli had confirmed that the fungal mist was not very dangerous, simply wearing something to prevent the particles from being breathed in, and also to stop them from getting into the eyes was enough to avoid any possible ill effect. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

…One of the groups was made up of Lizi, Griar, and Antieeld. With the latter being more focused on keeping an eye on the other two than cutting down trees. Only sending an 'Army Slash' every now and then.

She did not let her attention waver for even a second–Thankfully she did not, as a silhouette soon formed amidst the fungal mist.

"That was pretty quick…"

The commandant channelled mana throughout her sabre. When one undead showed up, you could expect many more.