Chapter 58: In Dark And Ominous Places

"Glory to the eternal plague, which will cover the world to purge the weak and impure, grant us the faithful and devout a new world free from all impurity, thus revealing the authentic truth."A chorus of voices intoned in the darkness the creed of the Church of the Deadly Plagues.

Somewhere in the world, in the center of a dark room poorly lit by the light of a few candles, was a large round table with the symbol of a creature with the body of a snake, the wings of a dragonfly, and the head of a spider, engraved on it.

Around the table were a total of sixty-six seats, but only half were occupied by people dressed in robes or hooded mantles.

They were a mixture of men and women, of all ages, sizes, and races. In addition, many of them looked strange and grotesque.

Some looked like normal people, while others had the features of amphibians, reptiles, or insects. The strangest ones had fungus and moss growing on areas of their bodies such as their arms, chests, and faces.

"Is it just us? Hmph. If I had known there would be so few of us I wouldn't have bothered to come." A black-robed man said annoyed. His skin was a deep crimson, his eyes were completely black and a pair of red horns protruded from his forehead.

"It can't be helped, Fifth Cardinal. Most of us are very busy and since the information of our alliance with the other dark churches leaked out, our enemies started to watch our steps more closely." Replied a woman a couple of seats away from the man.

She was very beautiful, with long dark brown hair, red lips, and pale, smooth skin. However, her large compound eyes, claw-like hands, and the pair of cockroach antennae protruding from her head gave her away as an unnatural aberration.

"Kukuku, still, this is disappointing." Replied an old man whose face was covered in black bumps. "One would expect, at the very least, that everyone would be able to fulfill such a simple obligation as a routine meeting. Frankly, I'm beginning to doubt that the others have the capacity to call themselves cardinals of pestilence..."

"That's enough, Twentieth Cardinal." He was interrupted by a man wearing a strange raven mask." We have more important matters to discuss. First..." The man in the raven mask paused and fixed his gaze on the blond young man to his left. "... Thirtieth Cardinal, what is the status of our troops in Gamidir?"

"Our expansion across the continent is progressing positively. The number of acolytes is steadily increasing, First Cardinal. However..." the young blond paused and for a moment hesitated to answer.

Even if they all held the rank of cardinal within the church, the First Cardinal was above them all and was answerable only to the Plague Lords themselves. No one wanted to make him angry or give him the bad news.

"However..."

"...The troops of the Great Aurar Empire continue to attack our experimentation centers and supply bases. We have tried to resolve it, but we simply can't get the Whistlers off our backs. But the losses are minimal and pose no real problem." Replied the young blond nervously.

"Hmm... If you say there's no problem, then fine. But try to resolve it as soon as possible before it gets worse."As simple and calm as his words sounded, the First Cardinal's voice was so cold, stern, and hostile that it made more than one's blood run cold.

The blond-haired young man kept silent and merely nodded his head. Then, the raven-masked man focused his attention on the cockroach-like woman. "Eighth cardinal?"

"Things are quiet on my end. But the amount of eggs and larvae coming from the Austra continent has decreased in the last few weeks, so our expansion through the southern area of the Central continent is proceeding more slowly than anticipated." Said the woman in a calm and collected tone.

"Hm? And to what do we owe this, Fiftieth Cardinal?" The raven-masked man turned his attention away from the cockroach woman and his eyes fell on a man whose face was like that of a beetle. "I thought you were in charge of this task. What is the reason the Eighth Cardinal's mission is compromised?"

"I-It-It's not my fault, sir!" the beetle man hastened to say. "The movements on the part of the sea tribes and sea beasts have become much more aggressive, attacking every ship that crosses their path, including ours. But I cannot resolve this without meddling in the affairs of the Church of the Endless Abyss. So I was hoping to have your approval before doing so, sir."

"So that's... Very well, you have my permission to do so, and if necessary, I will take care of the matter myself." Said the First Cardinal as he diverted his attention to a rat-like woman about ten seats to his left. "Forty-seventh Cardinal, is there something you wish to say?"

"Yes... It's about the river transport network in the eastern part of the Austra continent. Everything was almost ready, but an unforeseen event had arisen." The woman replied.

"An unforeseen event? What is it about?"

"A little over a week ago... The priest in charge of taking one of the main points was murdered before he could accomplish his mission and now, the Eastern Lords know we're up to something. A- Although I don't think they know of the plan, the city has been completely taken over by mercenaries and we must change the route, sir." Said the Forty-seventh Cardinal.

"Oh, I see." That was all the First Cardinal said, but the air in the room seemed to grow icier and darker. "And, what exactly was it about the priest? Were there no acolytes with him?"

She wanted to look away from the first cardinal, but the man's sinister eyes glowed behind his mask with a cold emerald glow that terrified her, so she dared not.

"It would seem that the acolytes were used by the priest himself for his experiments, which is why we didn't learn what happened until a few days ago. The priest attacked the city as ordered, but died before he could finish the task. We found no trace of his body or the "Eye of the Scarlet Queen" that was provided for him. Furthermore..."

The woman wanted to continue with her explanation trying to appease the first cardinal's gaze when the old man with black bumps interrupted her.

"Hmph, how pathetic. Are you sure this guy wasn't just incompetent? He had an Imperial tier item along with a lot of resources and yet he was not only unable to complete his mission, but he also died. Forty-seventh Cardinal, you should learn how to train your subordinates, I guess you should at least be able to do that." He said completely unconcerned, at the same time a couple of chuckles could be heard in the room.

"Twentieth Cardinal, please be quiet. I'm sure the Forty-seventh Cardinal has a good explanation for this, right?" asked a man whose body was covered with all kinds of insects and worms.

"Of course, Third Cardinal. After the priest died, we sent some of our agents to investigate. But we found... Certain traces of necrotic energy in the city and a nearby village. Which indicates that perhaps, the Church of the Living Corpses was involved in his death." Said the rat woman finally.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the room became so silent that everyone could hear each other's breathing. Then, everyone erupted in protests and curses to the point where everything was unintelligible.

Although all the great dark churches worshiped the five calamities, none of them were on good terms, and to tell the truth, the resentment that the Church of the Deadly Plagues had against the Church of the Living Corpses was no small thing. What the rat woman had said had been like adding fuel to the fire.

"This is unheard of! Do those f**king necromancers think they can look down on us!"

"Don't they know the consequences of breaking the non-aggression pact?! This is an act of war!"

"I agree! We too are one of the five great f**king great dark churches! Since when do we have to prostrate ourselves before those sh*tty corpse f**kers!?" Shouted a hooded Draun woman.

"Since the True Blood Ancestors came back to life." However, at that moment a voice rang throughout the room and its words struck everyone present mute.

The person who had spoken was a boy, dressed in a silver silk robe. The boy looked no more than ten years old, his hair was white and the left side of his face was completely covered with fungus and green moss. But despite his appearance, the boy was the oldest of all the cardinals.

"That's impossible! Weren't all True Blood Ancestors supposed to have been destroyed during the Fourth Age?" Said the blond young man after a long silence.

"I had a hard time believing it too, but it's the truth. Although certainly, of the fourteen True Blood Ancestors one became a God and five died, the remaining eight were sealed in all parts of the world. But the Church of the Living Corpses concealed this fact and in these last seven months, half of them were resurrected. Moreover, it seems that it will not be long before the fifth will be awakened."

"Are you sure of this, Second Cardinal?" The Draun woman asked.

"...What if I'm sure?.... You know what, it turns out I'm not. In fact, I just ate some hallucinogenic mushrooms and made it all up. Because, why spend months and tons of resources gathering information when I can get high and say anything if you're going to believe any sh*t that comes out of my f**king mouth anyway!!!" Shouted the boy angrily.

"That's enough, Second Cardinal!" Said the raven masked man and the whole room went silent again. "Now, regarding the death of the priest, we cannot jump to conclusions.

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First of all, the Church of the Living Corpses might not be involved. After all, they have never shown any interest in the Austra continent and I don't think they would dare break the pact. So this could be the work of an unaffiliated necromancer or simply someone seeking to create conflict between us and the other churches."

"But we can't leave this matter unresolved either, First Cardinal." Said the insect-covered man.

"You are right, Third Cardinal. The Second Cardinal and I will take it upon ourselves to investigate this. If the one responsible turns out to be a third party or unaffiliated necromancer I will let the undead handle the matter. I think you know how they are about such matters.

By order of the Plague Lords, we must avoid any conflict with the other dark churches and try to cooperate with them if possible."

"Excuse me, First Cardinal. But with all due respect, I think we should do something about the resurrection of the True Blood Ancestors." Said a chameleon-like man.

"I concur with the Ninth Cardinal." Replied the crimson-skinned man with horns "And it's not just the Church of the Living Corpses.

In the past few months, the Church of Absolute Destruction has been increasing the number of draconid beasts under its control and the Church of the Endless Abyss seems to have found a very powerful and peculiar creature in the depths of the ocean.

I don't think we can afford to stand idly by and do nothing."

"Hmm... You are certainly right. That could be problematic." Replied the First Cardinal in a thoughtful tone.

The balance of power among the dark churches was shifting and if they didn't do something about it, they would lose their position. In addition, the seven great churches of creation and the other opposing forces had also begun to move.

"Excuse me, but I think I have found the solution to the problem." Said an amphibious-looking man with a big smile on his face and a look of madness. But even without seeing his face, everyone could sense the wild emotion hidden in his tone of voice.

"We hear you, Eleventh Cardinal," the raven-masked man replied.

"A couple of months ago, some acolytes detected a certain anomaly in the depths of the Ranemal Jungle. So I went to investigate. Finally, a few days ago I found the cause of the anomaly. But what I found was..." The man tried to continue, but the emotion he felt at the memory of his encounter with that being, which he could not have imagined even in his wildest dreams, left him speechless.

"What have you found?" the First Cardinal asked impatiently.

"Well, I think... We have found our prophesied queen."

****

[North central area of the Central continent. Exact location -unknown].

*Badum Badum Badum Badum*

The echoes of drums sounded in the city.

Built by hand by the best Asrakian engineers and builders, the city was part of a thriving kingdom. With its tall pillars hundreds of meters high, its streets wide and spacious, the houses and palaces carved into the rock.

But now, all that remained were ruins inhabited by one of the many tribes of monsters that spread across the length and breadth of the mountain range.

*Badum Badum Badum Badum*

Goblins, Kobolds, Gnolls, Orcs, Ogres, Trolls, Bugbears, and dozens of other creatures had gathered around the main square, the sound of their drums and roars echoing throughout the mountain.

They all belonged to different tribes, which were at war all the time. But today, they had all gathered for the same purpose.

In the center of the square, a huge 5 meter (16.4ft) tall troll and a 1.8 meter(5.9 ft) tall hobgoblin were dueling to death as their blood spilled onto the solid rock floor. The troll carried a huge mallet and the hobgoblin a great battle-ax.

The troll had been the ruler of the city with dozens of tribes under his rule and for years no one had dared to challenge his reign.

On the other hand, the hobgoblin had come from the deep caverns of the mountains, subduing all peoples and tribes in his path.

He had been the first in a long time to challenge the troll. Whoever won would rule the city and overall the tribes that inhabited it. It was the law of the strongest, so was the law in the mountain range.

*Crashed!*.

The troll swung his huge mallet intending to smash the hobgoblin, but his adversary jumped back, dodging the blow. As a result, the sledgehammer hit the ground, splitting the rock into hundreds of pieces.

At that instant, the hobgoblin put all his strength into his legs and jumped as high as he could until he reached the troll's neck.

*Slash*

The battle-ax made a horizontal slash, cutting flesh and bone, severing the troll's neck in an instant.

*Thud!*

The troll's decapitated body collapsed with a thud as its head hit the ground. The troll's blood began to flow from its severed neck, causing the sound of the tribes' drumming and roaring to stop.

For a moment all the assembled tribes wanted to roar and celebrate for the victor of the fight. But what happened next stopped them.

The moment his feet touched the ground, the hobgoblin dropped his ax and began to change.

His skin, which had a brownish-green hue, turned black and his muscles began to expand until his body reached a height of over 2.5 meters (8.2 ft). Next, he grew two extra arms and a pair of curved horns protruded from his temples.

Finally, red lines and marks began to appear on his body covering his limbs, areas of his torso, and on both sides of his face.

When the metamorphosis was over, the tribes lowered their instruments and weapons and prostrated themselves before their new ruler.

The being could not help but rejoice at this scene, smiling from ear to ear and from his eyes a glint emerged, reflecting his greed and hunger for power.

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