Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

"A healthy baby boy!" enthusiastically said Minli, right as Flor had finished giving birth, which had not exactly been an easy process, Griar had never been present for any other such events, so he had had no idea what it was like, all that he knew about it was what his mother would sometimes say about it.

Which he now realised had been just bragging because apparently, giving birth had been the easiest thing ever for her, this had not been the case for Flor, it had taken hours, and if not for his sturdy body, she probably would have crushed his hand into paste at least five different times.

But in the end, everything had been alright, the only 'problem' was that the child, whom Flor had decided to name Aurelio, looked nearly exactly like his 'father', which made things a little awkward, especially as this resemblance kept on getting more and more prominent with time, at first, it was just a slight impression, after all, newborn babies were about as nice to look at as the wrinkled flesh that covered an elbow, so discerning any feature was a challenge.

But as time went on, it became obvious that this child would look a whole lot like Lady Fe.

Flor didn't seem to care about that, but it was most definitely off-putting to her as well…

Then, there was the snake- The snake with fur, apparently, there had been some primordial entity inside of the Peaceful Realm this entire time, and they had been none the wiser, despite the fact that Arzt had clearly known about it considering that he gave the creature a name.

Lizi was the one who had found it first, and she had begun taking a whole lot of people everyday to go train, as apparently, the serpent could allow them to train and learn combat for efficiently, Griar went there once, and had to admit, Fallael had not been lying on the merchandise, it was rather rough as he would conjure up what looked like puppets made from tree bark that would genuinely try to beat the hell would of you, it was alright because Fallael was capable of healing people by breathing on them whilst muttering nonsense.

Griar honestly did not know what to think of this ancient-looking being that could do a whole lot of bizarre things, despite possessing a sort of aura that made it clear to everyone nearby that he was friendly, it was hard not to find him off-putting.

The way he moved, the way talked, it was neither human-like, nor snake-like.

He behaved like a being that was descended from the heavens to spread a gospel, except that all he had to say were most mundane things that an old grandpa or grandma would probably also say.

"Young Griar, I sense a certain affinity within you, earned from the little snafu that occurred on the first day" one day, whilst Griar was just checking on the sleeping Aurelio, helping Flor a little bit, as that baby was bundle of energy with screams louder than lion's roar, as he was finally getting that loud infant to sleep, the hairy serpent showed up out of nowhere.

"My heart almost stopped! Where- Where the hell did you even come from?! Are you phasing through the wall? You can do that?"

The serpent chuckled with its horrifying smile.

"I can do many things inside of this realm, Young Griar… Are you perhaps struggling with getting this little one to calm down? I couldn't help but notice that you and your female were having trouble"

"Mmh… Well yes, taking care of a baby isn't exactly a simple affair, we are lucky that my mother helps, otherwise we- What are you doing?" Fallael casually extended over the crib, stuck out his forked tongue for a second, as he made a most typical snake noise, and somehow, this caused Aurelio to relax and sleep deeply.

"Holy… What's your secret?"

"Perk of being the realm's guardian"

"Does being the guardian just give you every power you can think of or something?"

The snake laughed again, but did not respond to that question, instead extending over the Griar.

"Young Griar, I know that your duties as a father take up some of your time, but I was wondering if you would be willing to help in fighting the great decay that is consuming our world"

"The great decay? Do you mean the undead?"

"Precisely what I mean, I have figured out a little something that could allow us to not only get in the way of the great decay, but also to learn more about it, in preparation in case they were to arrive into our realm" spoke the old serpent, his strangely-coloured eyes staring right at Griar.

"Well… That is quite the tempting offer, but you are going to have to elaborate a little bit, I have only been married to Flor for a little while, so I can't exactly disappear to somewhere else for long"

"Mmh… I understand, your care for this child that does not bear your blood is commendable, and I certainly wouldn't want you to miss the birth of your first real child"

"Huh?"

"Yes, your little 'technique' to avoid pregnancy? Not quite on point just yet, you would think that someone with such swiftness, reaction speed and strong mental power would be able to focus a little bit more when having-"

"How do you know that?!"

"I know a lot of things, Young Griar, many of which I am powerless not to learn, but to answer your 'Huh?' question, you have indeed put a baby inside of Flor, I can feel the life taking shape"

"But anyways, my offer is simple, I have found the way to temporarily send people from this realm, to another realm, and the idea is to send a few people into realms that are currently being invaded by the undead so that you can not only disrupt their plans, but also get to learn more about them, their strength, how they operate and such"

Fallael explained what his plan was, completely brushing aside the very understandable interrogations Griar had about privacy.

"Young Lizi, and Young Louizon are already in for it"

"Of course they are in for it… How long would it take?"

"The flow of time in between realms can vary, but for the realm I currently have in mind? The flow is the same as her, so I'll send you guys in for only a week at most, and bring you back earlier if necessary" answered the serpent with a grin.

"Alright, but you have to help Flor with the baby when I am not here then! Aurelio is too much of a handful to handle alone"

"Very well!"