Chapter 25 - Ziggurats and Liches (Patreon)

The two advanced at a sprint as the undead finally noticed them. Hordes of skeletons and zombies; thousands, if not tens of thousands, came out to greet the pair of monsters. Their steps caused the ground to quake and rumble as they charged, mindlessly seeking the death of the living.

Millions, if not tens of millions. All gathered in one location.

Fumi ran ahead of Echo and unleashed her Spatial Sever, carving through thousands with a single swing as they collapsed in halves - still moving, but much less of a threat. She dove into the ranks of the undead, carving left and right; an inexorable wave crashing through the swarm.

None could touch her as she danced gracefully among the shambling corpses - some of whom wielded weapons in still-rotting hands. None could withstand her onslaught as she became a hurricane of destruction. She slashed left and right, heedless of any injury because of Echo's Bulwark, and she wheeled about laughing as body parts rained down around her. Her movements were out of a wuxia movie; long, flourishing slashes and graceful movement that took her airborne before she would come back down with a savage blow.

Echo could make out the pure joy on her face as she seemed to come alive in the carnage. Able to unleash her full prowess against foes who did not hold a candle to her martial capabilities.

This is the first time she's been able to let go.

Echo ran forward, curled his legs, and slid along the ground as he cast a spell, "Transmute Substance - Pillar!" He used the thrust of the ground to launch himself toward the center of the mass of the undead.

"Fumi, jump!" He shouted out as he landed and slammed his blade into the dirt. "Transmute Substance - Worldbreaker!"

Fumi leaped skywards as the earth erupted in jagged spikes that impaled the undead horde. Tens of thousands were torn to shreds in an instant. Some were flung into the sky, and Fumi activated Alacrity as she jumped off them - skipping through the air to the ziggurat.

Echo cast Pillar again and launched himself up to the ziggurat, alighting next to Fumi.

The two watched as the undead that survived the onslaught - or their dismembered body parts - began to slowly turn around and shuffle towards them.

"How do we keep them down?"

Fumi shook her head, "No clue. What were undead weak to in your world?"

"We only had them in movies and games."

"Movies?"

"I'll explain those later. Come on, let's climb up this thing and see what's at the top. It'll take them a while to catch up." He began moving upwards and Fumi followed, casting the occasional Dimensional Grip spell as wraiths rose through the solid surface of the structure to possess her. They passed harmlessly through Echo, his Magic Resistance too high for them to interact with.

When they reached the top, they found a spiraling staircase that descended downwards under a stone roof supported by six pillars. Echo looked down the ziggurat and grinned. "I'll keep them from following. Transmute Substance."

His silver magic flowed over the whole ziggurat, as the exterior save for the top bit they were on became a slope. The undead slid down and collapsed into a pile at the bottom, trying to claw their way up.

Fumi clapped him on the back and smiled, "Smart. So, how did you kill them in these movies?"

"Destroying the head for zombies." He looked down at the horde and made out several headless corpses of both varieties. "Doesn't look like that's the case here."

"What else?"

"That's about it. But…hmm…If they couldn’t retain their shape at all. Breaking them down to the atomic level." He smiled, "Can't move if you're not solid anymore."

Fumi looked at him with a sideways glance as he cracked his knuckles, storing his gear in the pocket dimension. "Just watch."

He focused once more, slightly changing the frequency from his prior area of effect sound-based spell. "Sound Storm." The Quintessence coursed through him, and he panted slightly at the exertion - this was the biggest spell he had cast this far in terms of area.

A shockwave rippled out from him and cascaded outwards with a BOOM.

He intended to use sound frequencies to cause vibrations strong enough to break an object. Just like how a singer could shatter glass with the right note.

He didn't have to wait long - but he slowed down his perception of time with Alacrity to watch it at work. All the skeletons exploded into tiny fragments, and the zombies collapsed as they no longer had bones to support their flesh.

It won't be as effective against living creatures I imagine.

But against these undead, who had less supportive connected tissue if any at all…it was quite effective.

"Good job. Let's go and find that Deathvine." Fumi turned around and sheathed her weapon.

Tiberius was watching in the darkness. His two monsters, rampaging through an undead horde and heading to a location he did not expect.

“What drew you there?” he muttered.

Perhaps it was divine intervention?

“It must be. Malvir must have known about the monsters I released down there.”

He knew in his heart that his God had led them there.

He must support my interpretation of his will.

The couple descended into the blackness. The spiral staircase was narrow for the first ten meters or so before they saw a sight that made both of their mouths gape with astonishment.

The whole interior was empty - the large arches on the exterior leading to entry tunnels. The underground was a giant hollowed-out cavern! The walls were covered with a green lichen that gave a sickly glow which provided dim illumination.

"It's a city of the dead," Fumi whispered as she gazed out.

Echo nodded and looked about, seeing a peculiar sight. He pointed at it, "Over there…are they…trading?" There appeared to be a marketplace filled with zombies, skeletons, and gaunt humanoid figures of all varieties of races.

Fumi nodded. She looked up at Echo, "Are we the bad guys?"

"We might be. But they did attack us first. If one wants to talk, let's hear them out."

"You two must be the ones causing problems on the surface," A lilting voice intoned from somewhere nearby.

Echo and Fumi wheeled as they saw a wraith rise next to them. This one was more defined, however, and had a distinct form. Echo could tell based on the size and features what it used to be.

A Tritar!

The companion race to Spriten - they were short, their ears jutted straight up from their head, and their hair looked to be permanently wet. Quite a juxtaposition to Spriten’s flaming hair.

The wraith glanced between the two, "Are you here to attempt to purge us?"

Echo shook his head, "No, we are just looking for something called Deathvine. Heard of it?"

The wraith nodded, "I have. We trade in such a crop. I'll escort you to our Queen."

Echo nodded as Fumi spoke, "I have a lot of you trapped. Do you want them back?"

The wraith's eyes went narrow, "You trapped wraiths? You didn't just purge them?"

"We don't know how to kill you,” Fumi commented.

He nodded, "I would ask you to release them. I will prevent them from trying to possess you."

Fumi held up a hand with her other on the hilt of her sword, “Open Dimension." Space warped in front of her hand as the green magic tinged with red sparks opened a portal. The wraiths she had trapped flew out and swarmed around them, some making a beeline for Fumi's torso.

The Tritar wraith screeched, and they all flew up and through the roof, vanishing from sight. He turned to Fumi and bowed, "Thank you. I will ensure The Queen knows what you've done."

The wraith turned to Echo, "I haven't introduced myself, have I? I'm Cristoff. Who and what are you? I've never seen eyes like yours."

"I'm Echo, and this is Fumi. We are monsters."

Cristoff's eyebrow raised, "Monsters, you say? I don't doubt that. Very well, follow me.” He led them down the stairs as the two descended into the city of the dead.

The descent down the spire took quite a bit of time. Cristoff was verbose and chose to fill the silence with the whole history of Kaad.

After The Void Invasion, some creatures were corrupted. But those that died, or were not put through proper burial rites, were raised as the undead. Most did not think and were just corpses, their souls and minds having moved on. However, some retained their intelligence and their soul.

All those who lived in Kaad were of the intelligent variety; some from The Void Invasion, some escaped victims of undead Affinity mages - those who replicated The Void's capacity to animate the dead - and some just fell victim to circumstance.

"I, myself, was bound by a necromancer from The Black Scale, but escaped his confinement."

"...Can you leave?"

Cristoff scoffed, "Why would I want to suffer the waiting of the stars?"

Echo shook his head, "Not sure what that is…"

"-And the intelligent variety of my fellow undead are less and less frequent."

Echo chuckled, "There's a good reason, I think. Have you heard of The Arbiter of Souls?"

Cristoff floated backward as the two continued their descent, "Never. Who are they?"

"A God. I met him, and he sent me to this world.” Echo described the process of his judgment and the temple itself.

Cristoff nodded and turned away in thought leaving the trio to descend in silence.

They finally hit the base level of the vast, sprawling, underground city of the undead. True to his word, Cristoff waved off any who expressed an interest in Fumi or Echo, and he appeared to have some type of authoritative position in Kaad.

A whole host of various undead surrounded the trio; zombies and skeletons like those on the surface but with decently tailored clothing made from some type of dense fabric.

More elegant-looking individuals with pale, white skin that seemed stretched across their frames - Wights, as Cristoff called them - eyed the monsters with suspicion.

"What about vampires?"

Cristoff laughed, a hollow, cackling noise. "They are around, just not here. No source of blood. Hiding in the big cities. They're half undead and half living creatures who-"

"Echo, I think we are being followed," Fumi whispered.

Echo glanced behind and saw a small figure who seemed to be darting from shadow to shadow. It looked like a child - a squat, stout child with a stocky frame, though skin hung off tenuously. Two tusks jutted up from his lower lip just like a boar - a Toskar. Just like Bertram.

Thinking of the ally he had eaten sent a pang of regret through him.

Echo looked over at Fumi who was intently watching the creature.

Cristoff paused and followed their gaze, "Ah. Don't mind her. She's an oddity. You're the first two living things she has seen."

"Undead can be born?" Fumi asked with genuine surprise.

Cristoff resumed the journey and the two followed, "It's only possible by the grace of our Queen, who you will meet soon. Her power over undeath is legendary. She was one of the founders of our city. One of the first undead."

The streets of the city were well-worn, and all made of the same greyish colored rock that composed the enormous cavern. The buildings seemed to be carved from the stone itself. The one exception to this was the elaborate building in front of them.

A set of long stairs flanked by braziers glowing with a pale blue flame led up to a Gothic-style citadel. A single, enormous spire extended up towards the cavern roof, the tip surrounded by a pale glow the same blue color as the braziers. A ghostflame, as Cristoff explained, which acted as an undead-friendly sun.

Several large humanoids - mostly Ssari and Axan - stood near each brazier, dressed in full plate armor of varying styles and states of decay. Their weapons, however, were a pale blue and waves of cold settled around them. The doors were already open for the two monsters as they finished their ascent.

Cristoff led the two in and the doors shut gently behind. The interior was similar in architectural style, but there were light blue banners with a white rose put up all along the walls. A rug - the same color with the same flower in a checkerboard pattern - extended to a dais.

A woman sat there, legs crossed and one hand supporting her head as she leaned on the armrest of the throne made purely of ice.

Her voice was as cold as the ice she sat upon. “Monsters, in my city?”

She lifted her hand.

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