Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead-Chapter 1231: Ghoul And Mole?

Artratac Dursol was handling the crisis very well. It wasn't her first rodeo with the centipedes. Every once in a while, they would cause problems for Durter… This time, though, she was immediately suspicious of some foul play. The centipedes may be social creatures, but they definitely did not mingle with colonies that were not their own.

It was simple, really. They would instantly wage wars of extermination against one another, kill the opposing queen, and take the surviving workers as slaves and future food. There was no concept of cooperation between colonies. Every one of them was self-sufficient on their own. A single queen was the only pillar needed for a colony to exist.

Thus, the simultaneous and seemingly coordinated attacks of several colonies, situated in completely different regions of Durter? The Hierophant-Queen didn't believe for even a second that this could be a coincidence–Especially when it kept happening over and over again.

It wasn't yet clear who could be behind this, but being able to manipulate multiple ant colonies to such an extent could not be the work of just anyone. Either some very powerful beast master or entomancer was at work trying to destabilise Durter, or multiple people were in on this. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Regardless, she did not believe that this was the work of the Undead Empire–Not because she was quite fond of Vwoldtnir, but simply because this was such a highly inefficient method that she found it hard to believe that this could be a genuine attempt.

Vwoldtnir had spent a ludicrous amount of time with her. She knew that he wasn't an idiot. He wouldn't have come up with something like this if he were trying to take over Durter. His plan would be better than this… Anyway, he had a much better avenue to getting a hold of Durter for his Empire.

As such, considering the excellent defences she had in place against foreign agitators and spies, it could only be a domestic issue. As such, every suspicious group was a potential candidate as culprit–As much as were high-ranking officials below her in status.

Durter was just like any other place. It had seen its fair share of attempted coups in the past. Artratac Dursol was very much familiar with the concept. There were always people who thought they could rule better–Or believed that ruling an entire continent was easy, and that they could get the benefits associated with the position of Hierophant without even having to work hard.

There were many more such fools than you could possibly imagine.

Regardless, the centipede issue was a pressing one. There was no guarantee that it wouldn't get worse over time. Thus, the Hierophant-Queen was putting in the legwork and making sure that the centipede queens were being destroyed one by one, leaving them absolutely no chances of survival.

She would also wipe out the remaining workers and soldiers while she was at it, not wishing the other colonies to swoop in and get themselves an army of slaves. Some of the queens tried to strategise against Artratac Dursol, but they all failed miserably.

Once the Hierophant found out where a nest was, everything was already over for the centipedes. With just a thought, she could fill in the dug-out space, crushing and suffocating everything inside. Nearly nothing would be left of the queen and her drones afterwards. It was like the whole colony had simply never existed, all proof of their former existence squashed and buried.

She wanted to avoid the chance of the queens giving birth to princes. Those were too much of unknown quantities, and she would rather avoid having to deal with them altogether–Of course, it was impossible. There were way too many colonies all over the place for them to all be destroyed before such a thing happened…

…Behind the scenes, Vwoldtnir had been told to remain in a particular area. As an undead Gravelord, having him wander around Durter without Artratac Dursol around was a huge liability risk, so he had agreed to a contract to stay put for the duration of the centipede-cleansing operation.

Nonetheless, he was still listening in on the 'secret' conversations of the archbishop council. These guys seemed to think that they were being slick–And in truth, they had done very well to cover their tracks. Although suspicions falling upon them were inevitable, with them being prime candidates to be possibly yearning for more power… In actuality, they had left no evidence that could connect them to the centipedes.

At least, they claimed so amongst one another. This belief would have to be tested before being proven–Nonetheless, they seemed to be doing quite well. They were intending on keeping the attacks going, but not actually increasing the intensity at all. Their goal was to keep this nonsense going for as long as possible to keep their Hierophant-Queen and the Gravelord apart.

They wanted to buy time for them to try and convince Artratac Dursol that she really shouldn't even be considering Vwoldtnir as a future partner at all.

Frankly, Vwoldtnir felt a strong dislike toward the archbishops for even attempting to do something like this. They didn't understand.

Vwoldtnir had crawled all of his life and most of his death below the ground. In the past, sunlight would have scorched his pale body and burnt away what little vision he possessed. He had been alone, and then surrounded by other ghouls who did nought but basically worship him.

They didn't realise, but they were getting in between the first woman he had even considered getting close to romantically. He was a Gravelord in perfect control of his emotions, but they did exist. Right now, he was seething with rage so great that it genuinely felt like his cold, rotten blood was boiling.

It was a bit unprofessional for a supposed diplomat, but the ghoul knew very well that King Nitok would just give thumbs up and tell him to go for it.

'I suppose the best way to completely ruin their plan would be to actually go for it, and start some sort of… Official relationship? What do people in such a relationship even do, actually?'

Being a dweller of the deep, romance wasn't really in his instincts. His idea of a gift would be a lot of fresh insects. Food underground was scarce… And Artratac was a mole-woman after all. He had seen that she had a diet similar to an actual mole.

In fact, she ate very often and more than her body weight every day. If anything, she was just like a mole in this regard, so she would probably appreciate a boatload of food… Though she was also a girl, so maybe something like a pendant or other piece of jewellery? She didn't really wear anything besides her clerical robes, mitre, and other Hierophant accessories.

In fact, the one time he had gotten a look at her wardrobe, it was just an endless line of similar-looking robes. The only things that were different had been her old nun attires…

Artratac had basically been a part of the church since she had been able to walk, so it made sense that she would only have those. Thus, he found it doubtful that she really cared about clothing that much.

'Mmh…I should ask for more opinions'

He brought out a simple magical device to communicate over vast distances. The item sounded, projecting the image of a sphere made of nothing but soft, feminine hands.

"What's up, Vwoldtnir? Are you contacting me in celebration of losing your vir-"

"Hello, Multaemanus. I wanted the opinion of a wise woman on the matter of a man offering gifts to a woman in view of seducing her, which itself would be in view of an eternity of marriage"

"What a dry way to say that you want to hydrate your old Jimmy"

"Please, this is rather serious. It is also about the Empire"

"Suuuure… It definitely isn't all about you wanting to kiss a mole–But anyway, what were you thinking about? Tell me about that girl you like so much…"

After a while of explanations, Multaemanus scratched the back of every hand making her body up.

"So, you want to seduce a holy mole-woman who has the same diet and eating patterns as an actual mole, but due to her holiness, she isn't interested in typical feminine activities… Mmh… I think you are thinking too hard about it, My Friend"

"Am I?"

"Of course you are. It's pretty damned obvious that she wants you just as much as you want her. Invite her to eat earthworms or something, then at the end of it, say something like: 'I greatly enjoyed the time we spent together…' and then kiss her"

"...Isn't that a bit too direct?"

"Yes, that's the whole point. Most women like men who are decisive, and that girl clearly likes you already, just go for the kiss slowly, calmly and gently put your hands on her shoulders–Your arm hands, not your leg hands–And then bring your face closer. If she doesn't like it, then she can say something or easily move away, and if she does like it, then she'll stand still!"

"Alright, but what if she does want it, but is embarrassed?"

"You ask too many questions. It will be pretty damned obvious if that's the case. Just ease her in by holding her hand or something… You should just call Loimos up, he doesn't have emotions or feelings, but he definitely knows what advice to give anyway"

"Right…"

"Speaking of Loimos, do you reckon I could handle his Festering Death Force?"

"Doubtful, why do you wonder?"

"I've been trying to find good candidates to produce undeadlings with, but basically no one is a good match apart from the ones I instructed in my ways, but they are way too weak at the moment, my death force just gulps theirs instantly"

The conversation soon ended after that.