Chapter 443: The Devouring Black

It took a little bit of investigation work, and some knowledge of the possibilities, to understand what types of Undead were still lingering in the city based off of Mac’s descriptions.

They weren’t exactly clear, nor were they scientific or anything that could be studied for weaknesses or the likes. They didn’t even have the proper names, just what the Orcs called them, as they were passed around the camp like ghost stories.

They were mostly a way of keeping the younger, less experienced Orcs away from the Roaming Bosses, who whilst they roamed seemed to keep themselves to certain areas of the city or followed certain behavioural patterns that the Orcs had learned to exploit over the generations they had lived here.

Patterns that the players who had previously spawned here were simply too ignorant to learn from their Elders, or simply did not respect the stories for what they were.

However to someone like Revenant, who not only knew a lot about Undead but had details of the future he could exploit, these stories were perfect and all he needed to uncover what was lurking within the walls and decide which he wanted to keep.

For example, a beast that the orcs referred to as The Thundering Flames, was actually an incredibly rare undead known as a Nightmare, which resembled a pitch black horse with putrid green flames in place of its mane and eyes that could devour a soul with a stare.

Usually Nightmares came equipped with riders, Death Knights or something similar, and would be part of cavalry units. But this one had no such rider, and perhaps that was why it was left behind after the Undead’s raid. Revenant was eager to add this one to his collection, and demanded that he had to be the one to subdue it to make sure nothing went wrong.

The one they called Chittering Death was a type of Skeletal Undead that resembled a Spider called a Bone Widow. It struck fast, moved silently and liked to sleep in the graves of the fallen, so that it could replace any bones that it lost with that of the fallen warriors.

This was another Revenant was excited to add to his collection, but it was much more durable and so was left to Beans and his party to take care of.

Another that they called the Rotten Giant was the easiest to uncover the identity of, as it was not far off from the real name. A Zombie Giant, a type of undead that was, unsurprisingly, just a really big zombie.

This one wasn’t as desired, and was left to Figg and Raev to dispose of.

As for Belladonna and her new friend, they got arguably the worst of the bunch.

The Orcs called it the Devouring Black, and as soon as they entered the area, Belladonna could understand why.

An enormous black cloud blanketed the entire area of the city, keeping itself low so that it did not extend too high above the rooftops and instead slowly spread itself out wider and wider, as it devoured everything that it touched.

According to the Orcish tale, this area had once been a market place for the Elves, with the area closer to the grand wall being a farmland of sorts. Being a fortress city, the Elves had naturally accounted for the possibility of seiges that could last months, years or even decades.

This farmland alone would not normally be enough to sustain an entire city indefinitely, but with the use of Elven magic, it would undoubtedly be able to come close. Starving them out, in that case, would be a truly difficult task unless you employed other methods.

It had once been an area that was vibrant and full of life, where the plants that the Elves had been cultivated grew out of control without their masters to tend to them, and they simply grew as nature saw fit. It turned this entire city into a delicious bounty that had fed beasts and orcs for generations, and only spread their seeds throughout the city as they were eaten and excreted.

But that was before the Devouring Black.

Even though it had only appeared less than a year ago, all of the vibrant green and bountiful harvest had been reduced to dust. Devoured by the ceaseless hunger of the black cloud, that only grew the more it ate.

It devoured not just the plants, but any animals or Orc that was unlucky enough to cross its path in search of food. Leaving behind countless piles of bone that had been picked clean. Not even the buildings were safe, as they had been sucked dry of every ounce of nutrition until all that was left was shrivelled and rotten black husks in the vague shape of a house.

The worst part of the Devouring Black, was the assault to the senses. The putrid stench of necrosis and rot filled the air, surrounding the Devouring Black as the edges of the cloud eagerly swirled itself around the rotten corpses that spawned the scent.

All of which were covered in bulbous growths that pulsated eagerly, as thousands of somethings wriggled underneath the rotten skin of what had once lived in this city.

A deafening hum filled the air, drowning out any other sound, than the millions of wings within beating in sync.

This cloud, the Devouring Black, was also known as a Plague Lord. An Undead that Revenant claimed that not even the most powerful of necromancers would dare mess with, and one that spawned entirely naturally.

Evolving from a single mindless zombie, alone in a food rich area that was just begging to be eaten. And whilst the zombie did not care for the food of the Elves, the flies that buzzed around its rotten corpse did.

As they consumed, their numbers grew, and as their numbers grew they could consume more and more. Growing in number and magical power, until the symbiotic relationship of corpse and corpse eater, became something completely new and birthed the Plague Lord, a Harbinger of Ruin.

Belladonna shuddered as she glanced at the swarming cloud of insects, their insesent buzzing worming into her ear and laying eggs of madness within her mind. A metaphor that just made her shudder more and constantly swat at her ear, as she could almost swear she could feel something trying to get in there.

She added the last carving to the square headed maul in her hand, before slotting a red gem in the base of the shaft.

"Here, you’ll need this." Belladonna said, tossing Mac his maul, the head of which immediately burst into flames the moment his fingers wrapped around the shaft.

The young Orc laughed in amazement, waving the hammer back and forth like he was playing with a sparkler.