His quest was simple: Raise an army, slay the city, raise even more armies, and figure out who the hell is the target of his wrath. Short and simple.
With his forces on the move, much of the attacks were hit and run. Having Death knights storm the houses they passed, whilst undead continued down the road. Duth harvested the bodies after they were unceremoniously thrown into a pile at his skeletal feet. The souls were gone, the bodies weren't theirs anymore, who would care? Him? No. Why? Well when you 'live' long enough, you tend not to give two toots about some fleshy vessel that can hold your soul. I mean c'mon, they're heavy, they take high maintenance and cost more resources than anything he's seen. Being dead was better, he tended to convince many of that in a very unconventional manner.
Surely not humane, but we're undead. What do you expect? A cake and candles? Maybe a funeral? Since when did we care about that? We may be dead, and funerals are.. Well a different story. But he isn't going to care for soul realm customs in the middle of this situation; he will deal with that when he has more control than a horde of pissed off souls. Ahem..
After green flame consumed the bodies in a gross and sickly way. As if their flesh was eaten like ants would an animal from the inside out. Whilst the flesh was melting away.. He raised the group of skeletons and add them to his ever growing horde. This was done each time they passed a grouping of lively houses. Soul vision is a great help during these incursions. With a good hull of harvest building and an army of well, basic troops. He was simply happy. Sure they fought back against his attempts to extinguish their life, but 3 meter tall bulky Knights of the undeath have an unconventional way of convincing those who resist to give up.. Quite the crushing talk.
Give him a few days.. And this city might fall, that's giving the living the benefit of the doubt too.. And also he wasn't really in a hurry now. You see people have this lovely love hate relationship with stamina, undead has unlimited of it.. So the army attempting to keep up was tiring out every hour. Whilst the dead were either jogging the whole time or almost running the rest of the time.
Although he wasn't leveling up due to the undead killing for him, Duth really didn't mind. He'd get his kills, just not now. First, take the city, then well. We will get to that bridge in due time. It wasn't keen on making plans for the future as of now. His real goal was the bodies.. And well, more bodies.
He looked over to Rena, still alive and unconscious. He hissed "Wake up" she was jolted to consciousness. "Wha.." She was confused, until she was met by bellows of black, screams as people were crushed violently in their houses and dragged out into the streets. She started to cry again, the memories flooding back. "Just kill me! Why do you keep me alive!" She sobbed. Hoarsely her voice broke. Duth stared at her expressionlessly.
"Why should I kill you?" He panned his hand out. "I am the host and you the audience, watch as your city burns human." Duth chuckled darkly before returning to his thoughts.
Those damn bastards wanted him dead. Hard not to miss an armed entourage of over a 100 men behind them just entering his range. About a mile out, give them some time and they will reach us.. Stomp us into the ground into literal fertilizer and have a good jolly o' spring. wait.. was it spring? Or fall? Who knows.
However!
'I am not going to allow just imbeciles ruin my evil scheming like some fairy tale hero! This wasn't a fairytale! It's a story where I burn this world! All of creation and the eyes that watch me should know! Yes, I'm talking to you! Up there reading th-..'
Duth inhaled and exhaled, slowing his horde to a stop looking happily at the numbers. Two hundred twenty seven sure he is twenty corpses from his original force, but he just raised within the time being in this city quite a few skeletons. A sea of white! like writhing fog that happens to have more hands than centipedes have legs! Anywho looking both sides of the street at abandoned shops, two story houses and dark or dim alleyways, he had a good idea for this… vacation spot..
Duth glanced at his group of zombies, they weren't so white, one eyeing him with plain curiosity at a sudden spark in its master's flaming eyes. it's like it was asking him, what's up? To which it was.. Duth was almost creeped out by the idea.. He clattered his jaws in a chill before setting up a vacation spot for his lovely colleagues.
###
The clattering of armor ringing in place, crunch of boots, dozens walked as mummers of those talking quietly barely a hum against the officers ear. An unease continued, a tension straining the air.
Roger wasn't keen on this adventure, chasing a horde of god knows what, to kill some 'Undead king' Just stay in the grave damnit! Why come out of it to have fun?! Isn't being dead fun enough? No pain, all the gain and eternity to have fun, who in this forsaken world wouldn't want to eventually experience that?! He didnt know what the afterlife was like, but often it was talked about with both fear and peace, fear as a living being to have limited life. Peace to know that it will be forever peaceful. However something stirred the dead, he didnt know what force would do so, and why, but he felt fear. The dead, thats a term that drives night terrors into him. Because whatever pissed them off, well they would pay in so many ways it made the most comprehensible viles of the world look no more than a candle in a tier 5 hurricane.
He'd rather drink, gamble and smoke all day. I mean he worked 10 bloody years for this! It's not right to chase pissed off undead who meant nothing more than to have a groin measuring contest! Except he wouldn't win even though he has the real one. He shivered as some random thought of the undead whispering tips and tricks culminated from centuries of being dead in his ears. He made a disgusted expression before patting his blade. 'They have to die before I'm shown the advanced ways of pleasure..'
And yet here he was, under the forceful command of the Captain. Bah he had a good 280 men at arms. Should be quick and f*ckin simple!! Still they trudge after the horde nowhere in sight. Until he spots movement up ahead. Strange, for a good while they found empty houses with signs of struggle. Others were just outright abandoned altogether. Blood splashed across the doors, areas of struggle and most disturbingly in one spot of the road every half a mile just a blotch of blood that spans more than a few families could ever have in their bodies. Which told him a very unsettling fact that he came to hate these undead bastards more for.
Ahead were a group of8 people looking in bad shape picking at something.. Was that blood?
"Keep marchin' let's see what these idiots are hackin' at."
Only when they got closer he felt something wrong, a creeping sense of death reaching for him. He couldn't see it, but there was a dreadful smell of it. Except it didn't just come from these individuals, but all around them. As if he was at the same level of many corpses when buried.
Several guardsmen approached the group. "Hey what are you hacking at? Are you alright or deaf.."
Looking around suspiciously he couldn't decipher the sense. Abandoned dead houses, dark alleyways and a smell of decay, what was decaying?
Thats when one soldier grabbed the mans shoulder and whipped him around, vacant eyes, flesh and warm blood spilling from gaping jaws!
He didn't know. Until he noticed the people weren't people, but undead.. but.. why did.. h..-
OH SHI-
"Ambush!!!" The guardsman yelled, Rogers back pedalling trying to force other troops do to the same!
Too late..
The zombies lurched into the soldier who roared and his few buddies, taking them down with howls of agony!
The undead scrambled out like WWZ monsters. skeletons to zombies, horror crept into every man amongst the troops and Rogers was no different. They unsheathed their blades, few of the outskirt troops unlucky enough to not have time were dog piled and ripped apart. Whilst even unluckier troops were directly dragged against their will into the dark alleyways, where their screams give everyone a cold chill.
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Lot of new people! hello, hope you enjoy! These should stay above a thousand words, but some do go over two thousand.. Hope you don't mind!