In the Landgrave hierarchy, the 14th and 17th ranked around the middle, and in their millions of years of unlife, never had they experienced such abuse. It was like sinking to the bottom of a quagmire—unable to breathe or die. Innovative pathogens clashed with their Anasrava-level bodies, challenging the limits of their stainlessness while the foul stench of blight and decay filled their nostrils to the brim. Detached from his neck, the 14th Landgrave's head independently thrashed against gray filaments. At the same time, Death, Withering and Noxious Essence, battered his headless body which, still connected to him, fed him its pain.