Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

Dimios found the so-called 'dirt-blooded' to be quite the interesting folks, he did not need to worry about the fact that many species were lost to history in this realm, undeath reigned over history, everything that had ever died in this realm would be rightfully swallowed into the Empire, as such, this realm, with its long history of warfare and bloody conflict, was an exceptional catch.

The boost in strength the Empire would receive was going to be tremendous, but conquest was not a topic of today, beating the current overlords of this realm into submission was not going to be a swift action.

But thankfully, Dimios had found himself a loyal, living army for him to make use of, after all, the Verfolger was not a typical caste within the vanguard, they were hunters of champions and heroes, each of their members was powerful in their own rights, but overall, they were few in numbers, inadequate to stand on their own in the defeat of an army.

However, the dirt-blooded were here, hiding underground, or inside dark lands unfit for most livings, their situation was terrible, they were on the brink of total extinction, they had been able to hold on until now thanks to some of the traits coursing through their veins providing a resistance to the dire consequences of consanguinity, but even that was running out.

The disgraceful descendants of the monster species were not only divided, scattered and broken, they were slowly but surely dying out.

The undeads could not have arrived at a better time, the dirt-blooded were at their most vulnerable, help had become a foreign concept to them, so faced with beings of immense power, who offered them a chance to rise again, they did not hesitate to accept, pledging loyalty to their new, undead rulers.

Though, Dimios was a bit lacking in the communication department, uncertain how one was supposed to interact in a friendly manner with a living, Dimios and the Verfolger as a whole, were professional killers that did not ask questions, they homed in on a target, overwhelmed it, killed everything that got in the way, and then went away, it was simplistic, but it was how they worked.

But thankfully, Dimios had a professional with him, an expert in understanding livings and interacting with them, for it was a requirement to better perform his job.

Carnifex, and his caste, the Erado, specialised in finding, hunting, and dealing with negators, and to do so, one also needed to have a deep understanding of livings, how their warped minds worked, how their inferior brains processed information in such deceptive ways, why they adored lies and falsehoods to such great degrees, or why, despite them spouting against protecting lives against undeath, did they engage in near constant warfare when no undeads were around…

Livings were complicated beings, some might even say that they were clearly built wrong.

Carnifex found it rather easy to turn the wary, jaded dirt-blooded, into obedient foot soldiers, what livings loved were simple, they liked their problems to be waved away with the flick of a finger, and they liked power, the less effort required for acquiring both, the better.

Somehow, Carnifex had been carrying exactly what they needed in some sort of spatial pouch, he didn't even need to do a back and forth, like a benevolent deity, he brought out blessings out of thin air.

The first thing was simple, thanks to the great number of vampires and other blood users in the Empire, the undeads were quite advanced in matters of bloodline and the likes, and before turning any given area into undead territory, they would also run tests on the livings, including attempting to create hybrids, after all, if you could make mules and hinnies, then you could surely make some more stuff, and although not quite as insane as the architects, the undead researchers were pretty large pieces of madness as well.

Which had led to the creation of beautiful elixir of sorts, capable of stabilising a bloodline regardless of how messed-up it may be, and since the undeads wanted to keep the bizarre things around, the stabilisation did nothing to change bloodline itself, it simply seemed to purify it, making it seem as though it was fresh and not at all the result of centuries of cross-breeding and inbreeding.

This substance allowed the dirt-blooded to get rid of one of their main problems, but still, their number remained low overall, reproduction would not be yielding much results in the short term.

Carnifex wasn't done with just that however, the same researchers went further into bloodlines, and created some more wondrous items, such things were certain to captivate the greed of livings, even if they were not suffering from the problems of the dirt-blooded.

As the second elixir that was brought out was instead one that enhanced the traits of any given bloodline, the undead variation of this miraculous dew circulated like candy throughout the Empire, but to these livings, it was a priceless treasure.

And it was especially effective on them, as they carried deeply mixed bloodlines, the most prominent traits were greatly enhanced, but even the traits that laid dormant saw a surge in power, the main point wasn't to make them stronger however, but activate the latent, reproductive might of the species capable of reproducing quickly.

Such as the goblins and kobolds, for example.

At least, that's what Carnifex explained to Dimios, the power increase was just a nice side effect.

Sprinkle some dust that further empower breeding capabilities, and the numbers of dirt-blooded soared rapidly.

"Kobolds, huh? I didn't realise that those little dragonkins were in there as well" spoke the leader of the Verfolger.

The leader of the Erado turned his horned, ox-like head to him.

"Dimios, I am talking about the small dog-people"

"What do you mean, how could kobold refer to two, completely different species that only have in common a small size? Isn't that stupid?"

"It is a bit confusing, but yes, kobold refers to both dog people and lizard people"

Deciding not to question too much of the why or how such a thing came to be, Dimios instead decided to have his living soldiers train for the upcoming war, they may be vicious, and they might have grit, but they lacked tangible strength, they had been living like cavemen for too long.

The first one that caught his attention wasn't because of good martial prowess or anything, but merely because she looked quite unique.

The right side of her face appeared bloated with additional, unnecessary flesh, whilst the other side was much smoother, and had an actual ear that could be seen, an elven ear.

And although it was only present in a few patches, she also had long, blonde hair befitting of elven heritage, though, the bloated side also had kobold-like fangs, whilst the other just had humanoid teeth.

In terms of skin colour, it was that of an orc however.

The fact that she actually had recognisable elven features was quite uncommon, so he wondered if she would be capable of showing more elvish traits…