Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

The students were being attacked from all sides, split into random small groups, enemies pouring from every direction, puppeteers dancing around, their unison seemingly unbreakable, weaving and spinning around with bloody grace, none had died yet, but many had been injured, forced to focus on dodging the burning attacks of the defilers, who were otherwise more dangerous than getting slashed or stabbed.

Utter chaos was befalling them all, their saving graces amounted to two things, the rigorous training they had been made to follow relentlessly, and the protection of their teacher, many puppeteers and defilers seemed to spontaneously combust were they to get to close to actually harming someone severely.

Rosemary was simultaneously maintaining a zone in a clash against a particularly skilled mage, one that was certainly stronger than any she had ever had the occasion of meeting, casting spells at him and countering his own, circulating mana through her body to enhance her performances, and also enacting punishment upon the fools that thought they could lay their greasy hands on her pupils.

None could even consider getting close to the clash of supreme magics, the mana around had turned into a death trap for the uninitiated, Milo made good use of the fact that he was close to such a hazard, the puppeteers surrounding him had to be mindful of their environment, unable to fully deploy their dance of death, simply pushing them into it, even if they only grazed it, the simple act of getting into contact ignited their internal mana with the same strife, killing them on the spot.

He had, somehow, once again found himself all by his lonesome, everyone had been separated into groups except for him, it was no problem however, reinforcing his strong body as he had been taught, he could block the sharp blades without suffering injuries.

Augmentation wasn't a singular trick, it was one of the simpler applications of energy, but it was no less one that could be refined and specialised, focusing on shielding his skin against cuts, he grabbed one of the knives aimed at his eyes, ripped the long, segmented arm of the crafted abomination, swinging its limb around like a glorified whip, piecing multiple of them at once.

This was an advantage of being alone with a bunch of enemies, he did not have to worry about hitting his allies, in fact, there were so many people aiming to turn him inside out, that it was turning advantageous, the defilers were getting in the way of the puppeteers pristine teamsmanship, forcing them to switch around to less effective methods so as to not break the cohesion and rhythm.

He could use them all as cover and shields against the heretical fire, as for the puppeteers, he could handle them thanks to his exceptional mana aspects and his learned capabilities, were it not for the defilers making a mess, they could have certainly managed to overwhelm Milo though, so he made certain to not eradicate either of the two parties first, keeping their numbers in the positive as he slowly dwindled them down.

Breaking necks and shattering porcelain, his chest heaved as time passed, whilst many enemies without proper teamwork was legitimately simpler to manoeuvre than a single skilled enemy, the weight of greater numbers wasn't to be underestimated, even if all of them were enemies he could face with some ease in a one against one situation, it didn't mean that it was effortless, he was still a rookie, just a rookie that hit exceptionally hard and with a good physicality, he had to avoid making excessive movements, lest he hand up out of breath and fatigued still surrounded by enemies.

They were all getting used to his speed and tactic as well, thankfully, he had something else to show them.

In the beginning of his school year, he would always try to go at an absolute one hundred percent in every exercise he was given, it was a good thing in practice, but on the terrain, when facing actual enemies that wouldn't hesitate to stab you in the back, sometimes, going all-out from the get go wasn't the wisest move.

Most would try to probe around to get a good idea of the power and abilities of their enemies, trying to reveal as little as was possible, they played a game of lies and deception, if you went all out, only to realise that the enemy actually had something to counter you up their sleeves, you would end up looking really stupid, unless going all-out without pause is one's forte.

Or, if you are an undead.

The mana circulating his body, empowering his body switched from the simple, natural mana he produced to that of his golden element, which specific properties were still not properly defined, though, it was clear that it was more potent in every departments, his speed changed on a whim, surprising the puppeteers.

Milo suddenly felt exposed, and it had nothing to do with his apparel, it was just that it like thousand gazes suddenly turning directly to him, taking a look around at his enemies, an idea of what it could be due to became clear, whilst the puppeteers were simply confused by the sudden burst in speed, it was like someone had just pushed a button inside of the brain of all heretics.

Their lunacy, antics only befitting of the mentally ill, ceased at once, the fire in their eyes slowing its movements, the twitches and laughter died down.

'Huum, the hell did I do? Are the other defilers also looking at me? Through the freaking walls? I can feel insistent gazes piercing through me…'

Shaking off the profound sense of unease tickling his bones, he weaved past two puppeteers, breaking a leg for each of them, quickly striking a defiler right in the jaw, right on time for the area to take a orange tint, inhuman howls filling the area, all of the heretics around dropped whatever they had been doing, running over toward Milo.

Their approach was anything but discreet, Milo was thankful to have left some puppeteers around, he would be needing their unwilling assistance to not be cooked alive.

A fate quite a lot of the defilers suddenly suffered.

Milo would have normally just taken off, but they were coming from pretty much every direction, the one that was free of them was blocked by mana that would instantly get him six feet under.

Not the best situation to be in, he would definitely prefer some quality time with Helena, but right now, a ton of defilers of the holy would rather have quality time with him.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om