Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead-Chapter 542 : Of The Sands

Ir'Houwl used to be somewhat of a rookie amongst the minor lords, which did not say much as being a minor lord was already a mark of skill and power, but the thing was that her innate ability, which was the creation and manipulation of red sand which could absorb a variety of things had still been full of potential, in the past, it had only been capable of soaking up, water, blood and mana on top of its usage being rather rudimentary, the desert undead having always prioritised her blades as the primary source of damage.

She dual wielded identical scimitars fashioned from dark stone, their rocky edge capable of inflicting rather nasty cuts, all over the surface of both, esoteric runes and other symbols allowed for them to channel their wielder's special ability to perfection.

Her two swords indeed used to be Ir'Houwl's primary means of attack, having only awakened the red sands after death, many years had been spent honing nothing but a close-quarters fighting style, which had always suited the undead perfectly.

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Even though Ir'Houwl was a woman, her physique had always been rather masculine, with a tall height and broad shoulders, in fact, Loimos could tell that she had grown a few centimeters more since the last time he had seen her, the same mask was still firmly affixed to the skin, being basically integral to the minor lord's being at this point, but as for the rest of her garments, like everyone else, she had gone through a wardrobe change.

Although it was far from a departure from her original style, still wrapped in ample desert clothing that covered even portions of the body, hands wrapped in bandage-like objects and ropes of a variety of colours, small bits sticking out, presumably to make it harder to properly follow the movements of her hands.

As for everything else, it was all a stark, pure black, making her look like a shadow given shape, the way she moved wasn't unnatural but it was made so by the fact that her clothes were filled with a good portion of sand, with both swords hanging loosely in sheath strapped around her chest, Ir'Houwl greeted the undead champion.

"General Loimos, good to see you well"

"How has progress been with your red sand?" he asked, the desert undead quick to respond.

"When it comes to diversification of what it can absorb, I have figured out how to do so with every energy in my knowledge, including life and death force…" she began, as expected, this ability of hers was very much flexible.

"...I have also learned to make it absorb the air, or to have my sand absorb multiple things at once, as well as to switch what already summoned sand can absorb, overall, my manipulation and control has improved by leaps and bounds"

"What about your troops?" followed Loimos, her soldiers were very much focused on travelling and conquering the desert environment, she had even recruited sand-beasts and recently, drylurkers from the Western Cliffs.

Not that they could not be effective in any other biome or situation, but Ir'Houwl's intent was clear, all that had to deal with sand-filled horizons was her specialty and should be left up to the soldiers she personally trained.

When it came to various aspects of conquest, Loimos was well aware that she had done her homework, desert and sand was serious matter to the minor lord.

"My troops are ready for action, all bear affinity for what is desertic, I also report much success for those who decided to learn the sorcery and battle arts version of my red sands, although I admit that their desire to emulate me is a bit too much at times…" one just needed to take a look at the undeads who had taken up to follow in the steps of minor lords within the vanguard as a whole to know what she was talking about, they did tend to do more than just learn from their powers and styles and just start to look like small versions of them.

"As for the beasts, they are especially geared toward our task, nothing can be more prepared than them to tread a desert" she added.

"Very well, I have an extreme desert realm for you to tackle, I do hope that you and your soldiers can prevent catching fire, give me your hand" he said whilst stretching one arm forward.

"Oh… That's a bit- Hum, sorry" hesitating for a second, Ir'Houwl agreed to holding the champion's hand, instantly being granted something that proved just how much trust was placed in her, followed by Loimos just pulling something regularly from his pocket and handing it out to Ir'Houwl, who accepted it with the brightest eyes an eyeless undead could muster.

"This is a sample of the sand that was at the entrance of this realm, there are probably multiple varieties of it further away, do try to get an idea of things through it before getting to enter" advised Loimos, the minor lord nodding as she observed the sand-filled jar from every angles.

"Thank you, Sir Loimos! This realm will be conquered without fail! But may I ask if there are any known targets of interest within this realm? Is there something that should be focused upon?" hiding away the container like it was a stack of gold, she toned down her excitement and asked more questions.

"Although the environment is hardly suitable for life to thrive, this realm is a rather large one, so it is not impossible that more biomes, or for the incinerating suns to not actually be allowed to cast light everywhere, however, as far as my senses could tell me, there were no signs of sapient life, so your early mission will mostly be to establish a strong foothold and face against beasts and monsters" he elaborated, the minor lord listening intently to his every words.

"If you eventually run into intelligent livings however, you alone can take the decision and choose how to approach the issue, this goes with everything else" to this, she nodded, already well aware that within the designated areas, all of the minor lords would be the supreme authority.

All would have to go through them, be decided by them, there would be no one higher-ranked than themselves around to refer to or ask for assistance.

Loimos motioned for Ir'Houwl to take her leave, their meeting was over, now she just needed to further prepare whilst awaiting for the order to go.

And now, only Alkayne was left, the stalwart zombie had his own realm to conquer.

As expected, he wasn't late and arrived directly after Ir'Houwl left.

Bending one knee.

"You have my greetings, General Loimos"