When looking at it, the sky looked like it was held up by a gigantic spider web. Just by raising their head, anyone could see the multitude of cracks that were now covered by unnatural, green energy, holding the starless, black sky together, sealing it from the outside world. On the ground, the world was cursed to exist in an endless darkness, without light, without life. It was nothing but a black, flattened land in the shape of a handprint. Back in the days when it was still a functioning, lived-in sub-realm, it was filled with beautiful, colorful buildings, but now, they have been swept away, piling up at the edges of the relatively small realm like artificial mountains. It was as if a child decided he didn't want to play anymore, and instead of tidying up, he just pushed all his toys to the side, out of the way… to give place to his new toys… to his toy soldiers.
The Undead didn't need light; they were unbothered by the darkness, their green eyes seeing just as well as if it were dusk. There were a sea of bodies, people of all ages and genders, sitting there, unmoving, looking like statues in the dark. Only one was different, a tall, muscular man with long, flowing white hair, walking between the endless lines of Undead. Sometimes he stopped, waved his hand, opening a swirling, dark-green portal, and another body walked out, sitting down, adding to one of the rows.
"Elder Húng." A different portal opened as he continued his stroll, and a middle-aged man walked out of it, respectfully cupping his hand and bowing to him.
"What is it?" He asked, only glancing at him once before continuing his strolling.
"I bring a message from Grand Elder Kidlat; he is to descend and take control of the collected body for his soul in two Meriath days."
"It is already readied." He nodded, acknowledging his words."
"There is also an order to prepare and take control of the puppets for unleashing them onto Meriath."
"My disciples only collected 34 227 bodies. That is barely enough! They have been under pressure from the meat sacks since we came down! We had been pursued multiple times, the fleshbounds' defenses had been set up strong, and they are relentless! We waited too long to make our move..."
"..." The other man only looked down at his feet, not answering, not daring to criticize others like Elder Húng did. Both of them were elders under Supreme Elder Loonah, but he was only freshly promoted, not like Húng, who had been one for countless years and a direct disciple of Grand Elder Kidlat himself.
"All the Elders will join in with their own collection." He spoke up after Húng finished talking, "The normal disciples will take on the role of keeping the sub-realm from being exposed while we take control of the armies hidden in them. And…”
"How many Grand Elders will descend?" He asked, already guessing the next part.
"All."
"..." Húng's steps stopped again, mulling over his reply.
This meant that Supreme Elder Loonah was going to go all-out, sending down all her closest subordinates. Was it already time for that? Probably not… but with the events that recently happened with Cabrao's betrayal, he understood why. It was to recover her status. It was to show her strength. All five of her remaining generals will take to the field, unleashing around 200,000 undead at once.
"The decision had been made not that long ago… Not just the Grand Elders… but Supreme Elder Loonah is coming down too."
"What?!" Húng spun around, facing directly the newest elder of their camp, "What did you say, Khean?"
"The Supreme Elder herself will descend. The other Grand Elders had already found a suitable body for her. "The soul was recently captured and trained, but it perished in the Azurat incident… But we have the body, and it showed great compatibility with the Supreme Elder's soul."
"Hmph…" Húng snorted, being reminded of that fiasco. "If I ever come across Cabrao, I am going to consume his soul!"
"Yes…" Khean nodded with a small smile, feeling the same but also happy as he was elevated to the Elder position after his betrayal and the loss of Senaita.
Thinking about it, Húng knew why his leader decided so. With all the Elders working in tandem, they could control the horde much more fluently, unleashing a fast-moving, deadly force that could tear through villages and towns, swelling in numbers very quickly. With the support of the robust soul of Elders, they will be much more dangerous than letting low-level disciples control them.
Going by the news, there was only one living being who stepped into the 9th Tier. With the Supreme Elder coming down personally, she will be able to contest against her while the Grand Elders can deal with the remaining interference. This will either be a breakthrough, or this will be a spectacular failure.
"Do we have a battle plan?" He asked, steeling his resolve. If the Supreme Elder made his decision, it was not his place to question her. He just had to do his best to serve the Sect loyally and make sure they survived.
"Yes." Khean nodded, producing a piece of glowing, green jade, "All the Elders are to erupt simultaneously. Our job is to swell up the army's size as fast as we can! If it grows to a considerable size, we can delegate chunks of it to our disciples to take over. Our goal is to cause a tide of bodies and spearhead the conquest of Meriath!"
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"This reeks of desperation…" Húng murmured, but it was already set in stone. "I'll be ready." He took the jade, letting it slip under his palm and dissolve, filling his mind with his personal orders. "Don't screw it up."
"I won't." Khean cupped his hand, leaving, going back to his own realm after delivering the message, getting ready for his own part of the mission.
"It's too early." Húng looked at the thousand upon thousand bodies. "But it may be what we need. Act before they dig in too hard. If we do it right… 30 000 quickly grows to 90 000…"
…
….
……
When Lakhmu Marduk arrived at the Misfits' fortress, everybody present was out, gawking at the Somia-class warship hovering above them in the air. It was sleek, painted dark crimson, with its edges and railings highlighted in gold. It remained airborne and ready to move at a moment's notice, while Lakhmu simply jumped off, landing gracefully on the ground without kicking up any dust.
"Impressive! You are bigger than my dad, yet you didn't make any noise!" Lia laughed, welcoming him, making the rest of the nervous misfits stumble in their steps. Only Rinzen remained calm, nodding her head, agreeing, standing with the rest.
"I always forgot that you are also part of the Six…" Keily whispered, looking at Rinzen, making Ceiline think about it.
"It has to be the cultivation level…" She muttered, looking at the giant, tattooed man who was roaring with laughter after hearing Lia's words.
"Good little chump!" He grabbed Lia with one hand, lifting her up into a hug.
"Ugh, you reek of alcohol!" She tried to wiggle herself out, but Lakhmu didn't let her, only dropping Lia down after squishing her a little.
"Now, now! Alcohol is a man's best friend!"
"Isn't it a dog?" Raufon blurted out while Koa just giggled as she added.
"Or women."
"Well, whatever!" Lakhmu waved, acting like he was just a wandering uncle who came to visit, stunning the hundreds of people present.
By now, Lia's group was filling up with graduated Misfits and growing into a real organization. They all knew Lia was an Amarin, and Rinzen was part of the Six leaders of Meriath… but Lakhmu? Not that long ago, he was considered the strongest being on Meriath, and it was a title he held for multiple centuries. Seeing him in the flesh and acting like he came to visit family was something the other misfits would retell to their family for years to come.
"So, where is that disc of yours?" Lakhmu asked, still rubbing Lia's hair, making a mess out of it.
"Didn't you come to see the fairies?"
"I checked your reports. Looks fine! I trust you." He waved his hand, dismissing it.
"The Silly Fox was right… you came for the disc only!" She pouted, looking up at him.
"No, no, I will go with you when you go find the Undead! So I did not only come for the disc!"
"Tsk, dishonest fatty!"
"..."
If there was a warm, welcoming silence before it became a freezing one at once, hearing her call Lakhmu that.
"Bah, I'm not dishonest; I just told you what I will do!" He snorted, slapping his belly, letting it tremble as if it was made out of jelly, "And it's not fat; it's a beer belly!"
"Same." Lia rolled his eyes, "Come, I'll bring you to the disc if you can fit through the doors!"
"Worry not; this old man here had found no hole he couldn't fit into!"
"Does that mean he has… a big one or a little one?" Koa whispered, asking the others who took a step away from her, not wanting to be caught up in her imagination.
"It is a big one!" Lakhmu roared with laughter, looking over his shoulder while following Lia, "It has GIRTH!"
"Fuck me…" She gulped, surprised that he heard her and even bothered to answer.
"Don't take her literally!" Aurora wrote quickly, but Lakhmu just continued laughing, disappearing into the fortress with great excitement, wanting to meet Hajna and have a good talk with her. Nothing could ruin his prospects of stepping into the 9th Tier by himself, just like Reyra did.
…
….
……
"Are we sure that the kid is telling the truth?" Lakhmu asked two days later, sitting in the same room as the other leaders of the Misfits. They were watching the map where Lia circled a 10-kilometer-wide area.
"I somewhat believe her." Lia nodded, "After interrogating the rest, we came to the decision she wasn't lying. As to how precise her information is… that is a different question."
"All the other fairies' confessions collaborated with Melody's." Rinzen agreed, explaining it to Lakhmu, who took up two spaces while sitting with them. "Many of them noticed intruders coming through their territory, beings who did not react to their spells. Not even if they combined multiple of them for an enhanced effect."
"Their description was always the same. Pale body, green eyes, and white hair." Lia concluded with a serious look and voice. "They got angry that these people refused to 'play their game,' but they never confronted them. They are too much of a coward for that! Instead, they tried following them to their home to wreck it, but they simply… disappeared. After that, they gave up on it and kept ignoring them, but Melody can take us to where they lost the trail of the Undead most of the time."
"I will come with you all." Lakhmu nodded, taking up a similarly serious mood. "This sounds like a nest, and usually, something like that, where they collect bodies, are filled with Undead. If we find it or it opens up, I will play the wave breaker! For now, leave only a handful of people here, guarding the rest of the fairies! Mobilize the rest of your group, and we will go and check it out!" He said strictly, and they knew at once they were now being ordered by the second strongest mage on Meriath.
"Yes, sir!" Lia agreed without questions.
"I will relay this to the rest; a contingent of Marduk warships will be en route very quickly, so they should arrive by the time we travel to the search area!"
"Do you really think this is where they are hiding?" Rinzen asked, trusting Lakhmu's instinct.
"One of those places, yes. There were multiple attacks on towns and not just in our territory. People went missing in bulk, and many more were found to be brainwashed and trying to kidnap and convert others! I am not saying this is where they were taking them… but only one of those places. They wouldn't put all their eggs into one basket!"
"How much could be in here?" Simbad asked, watching the red circle on the map of the jungle.
"Thousand? Ten thousand?" Lakhmu shrugged, "Maybe more. That is why I said I will be the wave breaker! You just need to pick off the stragglers while our warships bombard them from the skies!"
"So… there will be a fight…" Ceiline gulped, feeling a little bit nervous.
"We are already at war!" Lakhmu said in a grave voice, "We are already fighting…"