Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

Under the influence of the eye created by Lady Fe, all three of the intruders fell to ground like marionettes whose strings were suddenly cut, effortlessly, the High Priestess took them out, her expression and tone remaining unchanged as she slightly turned her head toward the hooded people behind her.

"Girls, go and throw them into the holy basin, let them repent from their sins" she spoke softly, the figures behind her, priestesses meticulously selected by Fe herself, began to move.

Each of those young girls and women had shown unusual reactions to the stagnant water in some ways or forms, in particular, they had shown no signs of decreased mental aptitudes, thinking capabilities or changes to their personality, which were common occurrences when affected by the stagnant water.

Chief Isabela and Countess Ada were also amongst those who had reacted positively to the stagnant water, in general, Lady Fe felt like the stagnant water seemed more likely to give purely positive results in women than men, she was no biologist, so she did not know why that was, but it did not matter, once undeath washed over them, it would erase all current shortcomings of the stagnant water.

Such things only mattered to livings, a state of being Lady Fe and her followers were determined on unshackling themselves of, in the future.

The priestesses stepped forward, their steps small and meticulous, except for one.

"Is something the matter, Flor?" Lady Fe turned to an unmoving priestess, her face bearing the same warm smile as usual, and yet, the priestess flinched at the question.

"Nothing, Lady Fe, I was merely lost in thoughts for a moment"

"Is that so?" the High Priestess's smile broadened, amongst all of the priestesses, Flor was the one she found to be the most interesting, at least, when it came to interaction with the stagnant water.

Unlike the others, who would be granted a degree of control of the dark water within them, or would have their bodies transformed in certain particular ways, or even be modified in incredible ways, granting supernatural powers, Flor instead seemed completely immune to the stagnant water.

It was been quite the curious thing back when the girl was in the town, seemingly unaffected by the water she drank being laced with stagnancy, back then, Lady Fe had presumed that direct submersion in the holy basin would solve the problem, but as it turns out, Flor simply seemed immune to the water completely.

No matter what, her body remained unchanged, she obtained no special capabilities, and she remained unable to command any amount of authority over the divine stillness, over time, the stagnant water within her would be filtered out until nothing remained.

It might seem bad at a glance, after all, an imperfect body actively rejecting the divine was heresy, but Lady Fe had a strong connection to the stagnant water, and the stagnant water had a strong connection to her in return, so the High Priestess could sense that despite the rejection, that the dark water harboured no malice for Flor, it was seemed as though that reaction the young priestess showed was not a bad thing at all.

Lady Fe trusted in the stagnant water without question, but since Flor developed nothing, she was rather weak and fragile compared to the others, so the High Priestess typically kept the girl close.

Flor began to step forward, but was stopped.

"It is good that you did not move, actually, there is no telling if my little trick will truly be effective on them, after all… I wouldn't want you to get hurt because of that" the blindfolded woman pulled Flor closer, and with her palm caressed the priestess's face.

"Yes, such a pretty flower should not come into harm's way… Especially one as fragile as you, you can not recover like the others can…" Flor did not move, but her face betrayed a hint of discomfort as Lady Fe propped her chin up and ran her thumb against her lips.

The High Priestess smiled.

"Let us commune together with the stagnant water again tonight, it has been a few days since the last time-" just as Lady Fe spoke, a sharp sound tore through the air, and darkened blood flew across the room, one of the priestesses having been slashed right across the chest.

The first strike was instantly followed by an enormous blast that rolled all throughout the room and shook the mountain to its core, but the wide room did not collapse, or even show signs of instability.

"Foolish, this place is blessed" Lady Fe muttered under her breath, the smile on her face still present in all its warmth.

With a wave of her hand, all of the priestesses that should have been scattered all over the place were dragged right next to her, and those bearing damage instantly began to recover.

Something bright tore through the black smoke the blast had created, and for the first time, Lady Fe frowned, swinging her staff at the oncoming projectile, the golden decorations shimmered with the might of still water, and the attack was successfully deflected, but still, the frown did not leave the high Priestess's face, clearly visible even through her blindfold.

"You must be the offspring of that person, then… What a conundrum" Lady Fe lifted her staff high, a pulse was sent out, everyone froze for a few moments, but as it turns out, the pulse was harmless to all.

'It will take a while to reach Lord Loimos, but he needs to be aware of this' indeed, Lady Fe did not hesitate and immediately call for pure undead himself, he was closely invested in this realm afterall, and was a main creator of the stagnant water alongside One, so there was nothing strange about referring back to him directly about things occurring here, but of course, Lady Fe would never dare to call him for trifling matters.

More black smoke filled the area, a spell that was attempting to suffocate Fe and the priestesses, a noble effort, but as long as the High Priestess was here, such mundane methods would be ineffective.

Summoning several tendrils of stagnant water, Lady Fe sent them out right through the smoke, she was swinging blindly, but with the sheer size and volume of them, there was little doubt that she would find out where the intruders were hiding eventually.

Only, that as soon as she summoned those tendrils a bright flash bursted forward, just a few meters away from Lady Fe, someone having been slowly and silently making their way closer.

The High Priestess prepared to fend off the surprise attack, but unexpectedly, the bright flash did not go for her at all, instead passing by her left side before disappearing into the distance.

Soon after that, the black smoke began to falter, as though the one maintaining it had left, and indeed, the intruders were completely gone.

Lady Fe looked to the side.

'They took Flor? Was that young man the same one Ada had mentioned a while ago, who had infiltrated her castle and been forced into the water?'

"Mmh… I want reinforced security inside of this room"

"Lady Fe…"

The High Priestess looked at her priestesses, and smiled as she saw their concerned expressions.

"I am not mad, but since you seem so worried about it, why don't you all join in communion tonight?" she smiled before adding something else "But first, make yourself as presentable as possible, Lord Loimos will arrive any moment from now"

And with those words, Fe waved her staff around and walked away.

'What a shame, Flor was my favourite…'