The settlement appeared as though an army had swept right through, the homes, once filled with warmth and laughter, were mostly collapsed, covered in mould and decaying, the walls letting the element intrude for they had been mercilessly broken down.
The grave heat of the now separated twin suns bore down from above, producing a greatly bright light, making it difficult to make out the finer details, but one thing was clear, everything reeked of death and decay, not a single blade of grass remained, the soil was barred, puddle of black liquid were everywhere, stray limbs decorated the frail trees, they had lost all of their colours, now as colourful as a moonless night.
Bodies littered the grounds, everywhere, be it skeletal remains, dried up husks or festering remains, what was left of the innocent inhabitants had been posed and placed in ways that garnered both the fear and ire of the guards, even scummy criminals like them couldn't help but be repulsed, revolted at the scenery before them.
Countless broken down carriages and caravans had been dragged inside the settlement as well, creating countless covers and blindspots, the guards were tense, except for Guorzo of course, he was perfectly relaxed, unbothered by the stench that made many gag, and only barely fewer throw up.
Their eyes and small cuts stung, like salt was pressed up against them, none of this happened for the Drunken Blade, it was below him to be affected by such pedestrian things, instead, he brought blade up and proclaimed his arrival:
"To the one who dares cross Lady Syklon, the sharpest blade of this continent, come out and surrender, perhaps your allegiance would be enough to appease her wrath!" he lied as easily as he breathed, overly praising his lady wouldn't fly in her presence, but he indulged himself, the name Syklon was supposed to inspire fear in the hearts of those that heard it.
As expected, the cockroach didn't appear, but Guorzo didn't care much, it was just something he tried to see if he could make things easier.
"As you wish, but I know that you hear me, let's make this quick, we don't want to waste our time, do we?" coating his blade in booze, the distant rumbling of many paws running on the ground began to sound all over the city.
'Urgh, fucking rats' igniting his sword, hundreds of rats began to swarm the guards from all sides, soon enough, hounds joined the fray as well, the birds that had been only silent observers also began moving, flapping their putrefied wings.
The men unleashed their battle arts without hesitations, Guorzo's wide swing laying waste upon the undeads, it didn't take long for the first guard to receive an arrow, piercing him in his dominant arm just as he was about to strike, leaving him wide open, countless rats swarmed him and pushed him to the ground, tearing him apart just enough to put him out of commission, not taking the extra time needed to finish him off, instantly moving to their next target.
The attacks of the corpses barely hurt the elite, seeing that the regular guards would be swarmed and taken apart soon enough, he sighed.
He wasn't much of a team fighter, his weapon and style didn't allow for much help, as such, he simply decided that he might as well finish this charade swiftly, filling his mouth with alcohol, he breathed fire right at his feet, creating an expanding carpet of fire, the flames latching onto both allies and enemies without any distinctions.
He ignored the curses sent flying his way as his supposed allies were burnt alive, he didn't care, his attack absolutely eradicated all the land-bound creations of rot, only leaving a few flying wretched creatures, circling above Guorzo.
The puddles of black blood began to bubble, surging up in the air, drops of blighted blood soon falling from the sky, extinguishing the fire, charred corpses and damaged weapons covering the ground all around the elite as he came face to face with Loimos, the smoke clearing away.
The two of them were standing opposite to one another, about twenty meters separating the living and undead.
Guorzo raised an eyebrow, Loimos's ragged and sordid appearance hadn't gotten any better since before, but what surprised the elite was the strange feel he got when looking at him, the drunkard, considering the scummy tactics utilised and such, had been expecting a feeble necromancer of sort, but Loimos, at least when wearing clothes well-filled with rot, didn't look lanky in the least.
By now, he was standing rather tall, somewhere around one meter and ninety centimeters, still a bit shorter than the huge elite, but close enough, his cracked mask was also a point of surprise.
'A death hunter? No, must have stolen it, and why does it have a kiss mark on it?!' straightening his back, Guorzo swung his flaming blade through the air, getting into position to get into a fight.
He was confident in his capabilities, but one thing every warrior that ought to get far had to learn was to always fight like your life was on the line, analyse your opponent, but never get too comfortable, it wasn't automatic, but he had managed well enough until now.
"You have seriously offended Lady Syklon, what is it that you want to play with such a dangerous fire?" Guorzo narrowed his eyes, bending his knees, preparing to lend the first strike.
"What do you mean, I have only been breaking a little brat's toys, who is that 'lady' you speak of? Surely, it does not refer to the toddler in need of a spanking?" the elite let out a stifled groan, barely restraining himself from rushing forward.
"Who the hell do you think you are? Lady Syklon is a grown woman! She is twenty five years old and a prodigy of both the sword and the battle arts!" stomping the ground, he rushed forward with incredible speed unbefitting of his plump disposition.
'Provocations are not effective' manifesting rot by his side, with a swift explosion, Loimos launched himself away, right into a collapsed house, out of sight.
"Coward! You think you can insult my lady and run away? I'll take you apart, you can consider yourself lucky, your death will be much better than what she would have done to you herself!" he shouted with a smile, the flame in his blade gathering together, with a downward motion, he sent a destructive slash of fire right at the house.
'Hold up, he didn't have any bow or arrows' his realisation came at an opportune moment, allowing him to deflect an arrow shot from a great distance away.
"Ah, you aren't alone?" he concluded, putting his attention back on the smouldering home.
The mould was spitting some black blood, preventing his fire from spreading and extinguishing it little by little.
It had only just begun.