Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

Griar evaded the attacks of the robed enforcer with grace and agility, much more composed in the face of a great foe that he had been before, it was obvious that a single direct blow from the enforcer would probably put him out of combat, but he did not let that knowledge disturb his concentration, he continued to weave past blows, moving with precision even upon the tilted roof of the castle, trying to understand more about his opponents, whomst he basically knew absolutely nothing about.

The young man did not know what the so-called 'Stagnant Water' truly was, or how it worked, so there was no telling what it could truly gift those who used it, some seemed to lose their sense of self completely, becoming nothing more than drones with very little of themselves left within the hollow shell that was their bodies, whilst others seemed to have lost nothing and only gained from it, such as Isabela, and perhaps Countess Ada as well, their were also the bag-headed people, who seemed stronger than the rest.

In any case, the robed enforcer seemed even stronger than the bag-headed people, who for some reason, all bore the same sad expression etched upon their masks, Griar's opponent was quick, powerful, decisive and was trying to adapt their moves to catch the young man off-guard.

Furthermore, the hands of the enforcer were bizarre, they were not that of a human, they seemed covered by a carapace-like structure, there were only four, elongated fingers to be seen, each bearing claws.

The enforcer kept on muttering incomprehensible words in a voice that sounded neither masculine nor feminine, it was so corrupted that it was impossible to tell which side it was supposed to lean more towards.

After several minutes of dodging and evading, Griar decided that it was time to counterattack, ducking underneath the swipe of claws that carved through the air audibly, he poured all of his might into a punch, and struck the robed figure in the abdomen, feeling his hand, arm and the bones making them up shudder in pain, it felt like trying to punch stone with your bare fist.

Still, Griar's might was able to move the enforcer, allowing the young man to move away before suffering retaliation.

'Damn, if my full physical strength can't put a dent, then even a full mana augmentation focused on my fist won't be able to inflict significant damage…' Griar may be talented, but he could not perform even a vertex to enhance his strength, if so, he might feel confident enough to face the enforcer, but as things stood, his opponent was far too durable for Griar to bother fighting even a second longer, he would only be wasting mana and stamina.

So without hesitation, after dodging another blow, he took off running toward the edge of the castle, only to have his path blocked as a swarm of mosquitoes suddenly emerged in front of him, having been hiding against the side of the castle.

The insects had never left, and from the looks of it, they had been commandeered by the robed figure to lie in wait.

Griar cursed under his breath, digging his heel into the roof to halt his momentum, pushing himself to the side so hard that he had to roll to catch himself, and still only barely avoiding getting killed as some of his hair was sent flying through the air, the sensation of blood flowing from the back of his head was clear, one moment longer, and his brain would have taken a breath of fresh hair.

The swarm and enforcer took off after him, the later crawling on all four like a beast, using their four limbs to stab into the roof and propel themselves forward faster, but Griar was fast, and he had already reached the other side before he was caught up to, he slid down the opposite slope on the roof, and without hesitation, activated a spell in preparation to jump down the side.

But the enforcer had already accelerated, leaping forward, causing their hood to be flung backward, revealing a most appalling, disgusting face that intertwined the features of a human with that of a fly, the compound eyes were made up countless, small eyeballs that seemed to have been stretched to their absolute limit, the mouth remained mostly humanoid, appearing as though just in the process of beginning to morph into a labellum.

As Griar threw himself away and the enforcer was just on the verge of slamming into him, a loud boom resounded throughout the whole area, the blast so powerful that both he and the enforcer, who were in mid-air, found themselves displaced by the it, sending the two of them back into the roof.

The robed figure was confused and looked at what could have been the source of such a thing, but Griar did not need to check.

'Louizon!' immediately, he didn't even bother standing up and just rolled off the roof, the spell he had prepared activating, and allowing him to swiftly ride the winds.

Seeing the intruder fleeing, the robed guardian did not stand still, and from its back, four insect-like wings bursted out, immediately putting them to use, flying after Griar as several, weaker blasts washed over the area, and knights of the castles were sent flying through the air.

"Griar? You're looking awful! Is that blood? Are you bleeding?" Louizon asked before Griar could even touch the ground and land next to her.

"I don't have time to explain, there is-"

"Oh, did that ugly bastard hurt you?"

"Louizon, this thing is dangerous!"

"So it did!" Louizon raised one hand toward the approaching enforcer, and immediately, the human-fly abomination slowed down, before the enforcer could think, a spell crashing into them.

The creature was sent flying straight into a nearby house from the village.

"Holy…" Griar couldn't even finish his sentence as Louizon repeatedly casted more spell toward the house, none of them were exceptionally destructive, but the house and its surroundings were reduced to a crater filled with ash, within it, the now robeless enforcer slowly rose, screaming something whilst trying to fly, but all four of the wings, far more fragile than the rest, were completely gone.

So instead, the foul being attempted to rush down Louizon on all four, only to get smacked back into the crater with a blast spell.

Once, twice, thrice… Again and again.

"Huh… Maybe you should cast a stronger spell?" suggested Griar.

"What are you talking about? Let me bully that bastard, he- It? I don't know, in any case, that thing hurt you, as such, as your older sister, it is my duty to instill fear into fear into the culprit's soul!"

"Are you sure you're not just being sadistic for the sake of it?"

"Come one, are you doubting the pure motives of your lovely sister?"

Griar sighed as the enforcer was repeatedly sent flying backward until the powerful carapace covering their body was weakened to the point that one of the blasts just completely blew the creature up into pieces.

"That was a good practice target, Griar, any idea if there are more of these in the castle?"

"I think we should go find Lizi first"

"Good point"